Posted by lucy stone on August 20, 2004, at 20:33:09
In reply to Re: Professional will? » jane d, posted by gardenergirl on August 20, 2004, at 1:29:27
My T is a member of the APA and Ihave asked him what would happen to his records if anything happened to him. I was/am concerned about anyone but him having access to him notes. He has a partner and he said that she has been designated to store the records in case anything happened to him. He said that as soon as she had word she would go to the office and lock everything up.
> Hi Jane,
> For psychologists, it is part of the APA's code of ethics, to which all psychologists must abide. I would imagine that state law may vary. If it is written into state law, that supercedes, at least legally, the ethics code. If not, ethical code applys. The person designated to store or destroy records is usually either a fellow professional or the exectutor of the estate. I may be wrong, but I believe said person is also bound by confidentiality and protection of the records via the agreement. I have to admit, no one has ever asked me that question in an intake or later in therapy. But then I have been seeing people as part of agencies, so I would assume there is an agency policy in place as well. I think if the person is a private practitioner, then it might be worth asking up front. Of course you can always ask...but then there is the "why ask that" issue that always seems to come up after a legitimate question ;)
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> gg
poster:lucy stone
thread:378986
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040812/msgs/380150.html