Oklahoma § 63-3113 - Designation of lay caregivers by hospital patients

§ 63-3113. Designation of lay caregivers by hospital patients

A. Hospitals shall provide each patient or the patient's legal

guardian with an opportunity to designate one lay caregiver

following the patient's admission into a hospital and prior to the

patient's discharge to the patient's residence:

1. In the event the patient is unconscious or otherwise

incapacitated upon admission to the hospital, the hospital shall

provide the patient's legal guardian with an opportunity to

designate a lay caregiver following the patient's recovery of

consciousness or capacity, so long as the designation or lack of a

designation does not interfere with, delay or otherwise affect the

medical care provided to the patient.

2. In the event the patient or the patient's legal guardian

declines to designate a lay caregiver under this act, the hospital

shall promptly document such in the patient's medical record, and

the hospital shall be deemed to comply with the provisions of this

act.

3. In the event that the patient or the patient's legal

guardian designates an individual as a lay caregiver under this act,

the hospital shall promptly request the written consent of the

patient or the patient's legal guardian to release medical

information to the patient's designated lay caregiver pursuant to

the hospital's established procedures for releasing personal health

information and in compliance with applicable state and federal law.

4. If the patient or the patient's legal guardian declines to

consent to the release of medical information to the patient's

designated lay caregiver, the hospital is not required to provide

notice to the lay caregiver pursuant to the provisions of Section 3

of this act.

5. The hospital shall record the patient's designation of a lay

caregiver, the relationship of the lay caregiver to the patient, and

the name, telephone number, and physical address of the patient's

designated lay caregiver in the patient's medical record.

B. A patient may elect to change his or her designated lay

caregiver in the event that the lay caregiver becomes incapacitated.

C. Designation of a lay caregiver by a patient or a patient's

legal guardian pursuant to the provisions of this act does not

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 63. Public Health and Safety

obligate any individual to perform any aftercare tasks for the

patient.

D. This section shall not be construed so as to require a

patient or a patient's legal guardian to designate any individual as

a lay caregiver as defined by this act.

Added by Laws 2014, c. 253, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2014.