HIPAA and FERPA Releases
When students go off to college, parents lose access to their health and education records unless the student authorizes that access. FERPA rules govern access to education records, while HIPAA rules govern access to health records. Getting the right forms completed before your student leaves for college will allow you to access their records as well as to assist and advocate for them should a medical need arise.
FERPA, the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, gives parents the right to inspect and review the student's education records until they turn 18 or attend a school "beyond the high school level." Once that happens, those rights are transferred to the student.
Especially if they are supporting the student through college, parents tend to feel entitled to access their student's education records. However, the student must authorize this access in order for parents to get it. Most colleges provide a FERPA release for the student to complete prior to the start of college. Parents should be on the lookout for this to ensure that it gets done. (The student can of course give authorization after starting, too, but parents tend to have a little less pull with their student once they're no longer at home!)
If you've had a medical appointment in the last decade or so, you've probably filled out a HIPAA release form. You've probably done it for your kids, too. HIPAA rules are the same nationwide except for one item: the age of majority, when the right to medical records and information transfers from parents to their adolescent or young adult children. You'll want to confirm with your student's doctor that they have a HIPAA release from the student allowing you to access their info, before they leave for college. HIPAA releases require you to list providers, so the one filed with the local doctor will not allow their on-campus health services to share medical information with you.
Most colleges have a HIPAA waiver form online that students can complete. Especially if your child is going out-of-state, you should complete the school's form in addition to what you already have with their primary doctor at home. The school should be able to provide names of local hospitals and medical facilities that students might be taken to for emergency services so that those can be included on the HIPAA release. This form can likewise be updated at any point by the student, but these updates tend not to be top-of-mind for teenagers so you'll want to make sure it gets done before they leave.
Having a HIPAA release on file might mean you're able to refill a prescription for your student, or it might mean that you can talk to the doctor who's treating them if they're in a car accident. You'd want to be able to do both, should the need arise, so don't overlook this form.
