Be ready for surgery by getting your docs in a row! If there is surgery in the future for you or a family member, these tips for planning ahead will lessen your stress and make the process run smoother.
It’s time to “get your affairs in order”. Depending on your perspective, that can sound pretty dire … or may conjure visions of a wild weekend in Vegas! A non-dramatic reality is that we all have administrative responsibilities to deal with in our everyday lives and planning for surgery adds to the list of forms and documents we have to deal with. Dealing with them in advance will make your life easier in the weeks before and after surgery.
Pay the Bills
If you are the patient facing surgery, you should have some idea of your recovery time after surgery, from a few days to several weeks. Likewise, you can estimate how long you will be taking full-time care of your family member.
Try to get all your regular bills paid in advance as much as possible. You don’t want your cable or cell phone service interrupted while you are holding court from the couch or sitting in the hospital with a recovering loved one!
You may not have the budget to pre-pay months of recurring bills, but you can get a lot of the busy-work ready in advance. Can you schedule online payments in advance? For paper bills you can write post-dated checks and have return address labels and stamps set aside to make it fast and easy to process when the bills comes in the mail.
If you are the one who wears the bookkeeper hat in your family, especially if you are the surgery patient, this is a good time to make sure your spouse or another responsible adult knows how the bills get paid, from which bank account, and the login information for online accounts.
Medical and Insurance Papers
Most insurance companies require pre-approval for non-emergency surgeries and certain diagnostic tests (that’s right – the expansive ones!) like and MRI or CT scan. Make sure the medical providers have gotten the go-ahead from the insurance company. Some hospitals won’t even schedule a surgery until the insurance company has agreed to pay – but don’t assume.
Are there pre-op requirements for labs or tests? Make sure you have copies of the doctor’s order for any test, are familiar with any preparation (like fasting) and mark the dates, times and place in your planner!
Will you be off work for an extended period of time for your surgery and recovery or to care for a family member? Contact your employer’s human resources department to arrange for leave under FMLA – the Family Medical Leave Act – to protect your job and ensure continuation of your medical insurance if it is already provided through your employer. There are forms that will need to be filled out by you and the doctor so be sure to get them early.
If you are the person who will be sidelined by surgery, be sure to talk with your human resources person if you are eligible for short or long-term disability insurance to replace a portion of your wages while you are off.
If there are extra medical policies or life insurance policies covering the patient, make sure someone knows about them!
Legal Forms
Whether you or a loved one is the person facing surgery, it is strongly recommended that proper legal documents have been prepared ahead of time to make sure that the patient gets what they want when it comes to medical care, especially if there are difficult decisions to be made.
A Medical Power of Attorney (“POA”) designates another adult to make medical decisions about a patient’s care if they are too sick or incapacitated to speak for themselves. To provide guidance for the person with the medical POA, the person facing surgery should also have Advanced Directives or a Living Will.
Advanced Directives or a Living Will generally are limited to end of life issues. They are a way for the patient to make it very clear how much or how little life support they would want if the doctor believes they are terminally ill or permanently unconscious. The guidelines vary by state.
A medical POA allows the designated person to make all kinds of medical decisions for the patient who may be too sick or sedated to make choices, not just end of life issues, so that’s why it is a good idea to have both!
The hospital admissions person will usually ask if there is a medical POA and advanced directives. If not, some hospitals have a social worker that can help prepare these important documents and witness the signature.
A Durable Power of Attorney allows the designated person to act on behalf of the person by granting the power in almost all areas, including medical, business and financial matters. The person acting as POA is allowed to transact business, pay bills, make medical decisions and sell property as needed, among other things. About the only things a durable POA cannot do on the other person’s behalf are change the person’s will or insurance beneficiaries, contract for marriage or vote in elections!
Many states have the appropriate forms online, and they are valid if they are signed correctly in front of witnesses or a notary. Of course, you can always have an attorney help prepare these documents.
Keeping It Together
Carrying a planner or folder with copies of medical records, insurance forms or legal documents will come in handy, just be sure hand them off to a trusted adult for safe keeping once you get to the hospital, if you are the patient.
If you are the POA for someone, always keep a copy of the signed document with you, even if a copy was already provided to the hospital! For back-up, consider keeping scanned copies in a secured cloud-based location for quick access from your smart phone.
Are you preparing for surgery? Have you already been thorough it? Please share your questions and comments below!