Tag: health care directives

Estate Planning, Healthcare

Inoculated Against COVID-19 Successfully? What’s Next?

SchulzeLawGroup

COVID-19 is being administered to a growing number of people either through the program or becoming eligible for it. According to the medical community, vaccinated individuals are significantly less likely to contract COVID-19; however, they may pose a health risk to others. What then is appropriate behavior for vaccinated Americans when considering the health of others? For the moment, not much has changed.

First of all, experts have told us that the COVID-19 vaccines take at least two weeks from receiving the second dose (or the single dose of Johnson and Johnson) to build up your immune response. The Pfizer vaccine offers 95 percent efficacy, while the Moderna vaccine provides 94 percent efficacy, so you are highly resistant to COVID-19 but not completely immune. According to MarketWatch, Dr. Gregory Poland, infectious disease expert and director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minnesota, the .9 percent difference in efficacy rates is “meaningless.” However, according to preliminary data, those who are vaccinated may still contract coronavirus though, they are more likely to be asymptomatic. In the same MarketWatch post, Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease, University at Buffalo in New York, says, “… it’s not clear whether those vaccinated people would be able to pass it to others.” We are still in a time of great uncertainty regarding this pandemic.

There is a low risk of infection when socializing with other fully vaccinated individuals; however, most experts believe it will take months to achieve herd immunity as a nation. Herd immunity occurs when a large enough percentage of the population develops long-lasting immunity through naturally occurring infection resistance or vaccinations to a particular virus or disease.

Should you visit your local grandparent or other older relative now that you have the vaccine? Dr. Russo told MarketWatch if both you and your loved one are fully vaccinated, “the benefits of the visit will outweigh these small risks that they could have of developing a severe case of coronavirus.” The unprecedented rates of social isolation of the American elderly have taken a huge toll on their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. If you and your loved one have been fully vaccinated, make arrangements to meet safely.

The medical community speculates that a vaccination rate of 70 to 80 percent can bring about herd immunity in the US, but we are just beginning the nation’s vaccination journey. The advent of open borders and easing air travel restrictions from other countries continues to provide challenges. In the future, you might need to present a negative COVID-19 test to cross international borders. Currently, those Americans returning from Mexico must now meet this requirement before entering the US. The “slow the spread” protocols remain in place even though you are fully vaccinated.

Once you are fully vaccinated your way of life may not change for a while. It is still important to reach out to friends and loved ones who may still be suffering from feelings of isolation and/or depression. You may be able to visit a loved one in a care facility once you are fully vaccinated. And if you haven’t already, now is a great time to think about your future health, and to make sure you have the correct legal documents in place in case you are unable to make decisions due to illness or incapacity in the future. We would be happy to speak to you about what documents you should be thinking about, including a health care directive, living will, or other documents specific to your wishes and desires. If the past year has taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected and plan accordingly. We can help! If you have questions or would like to discuss your personal situation, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Please contact our Reno office by calling us at (775) 853-5700.

Elder Living

New App “Mind Your Loved One” Provides Storage for Important Information

SchulzeLawGroup

Today, digital apps provide a means by which we can store and send information on our smartphones and tablet devices. Whether engaging in online banking, using a mobile plane boarding pass or creating work calendars shared in the cloud, the internet of things provides needed connectivity. Yet critical medical information, health care directives, and other essential legal documents tend to remain in older storage formats such as paper files or on-site at a hospital or doctor’s office. The American Bar Association website displays and recommends an app called Mind Your Loved Ones (MYLO) that provides access to this critical information 24/7.

The app allows you to send information directly to health care providers, whether they be an insurance company, doctor, hospital, or trusted friend or family members, via email, text, fax, or print. Information is not stored in the cloud but locally on the user’s tablet or smartphone for enhanced security.  A mobile app like MYLO falls under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) scope because it handles personal health information (PHI). The information you want resides on your smartphone, and MYLO has no access to the user’s profile beyond an email address and registered name.

Whether traveling for work, leisure, or living in a retirement community, you can securely store your and your family’s health care advance directives, key medical information like prescriptions, physician contacts, medical notes, and insurance information. There is no need to hunt for paper files or sign onto a website to obtain the information, and you can create as many individual profiles on the app as you want. This immediate access to critical information allows your trusted agent to immediately answer difficult questions that an emergency room or other healthcare professionals ask, creating better health outcomes.

Because you can create an unlimited number of profiles, you can use MYLO to store information on your aging parents, yourself, spouse, siblings, children, and even friends. Each profile automatically generates reports that can be shared electronically with the desired recipient. Insurance information includes copies of both sides of insurance cards. Event notes, routine appointments, prescription changes, activities of daily living, and vital signs can all be maintained and measured over time. A dropbox is available to backup, share, and restore profiles, so even if you accidentally delete or damage a profile, it can be easily recreated. An annual subscription service to MYLO is less than ten dollars.

Other apps provide a format to carry your medical history and records on your phone; however, these apps do not combine legal documents as part of the app. MYLO provides ways to track medical, legal, and other information seamlessly in one app, which is a big plus when under duress to provide information to help yourself or a loved one. Remember that you default your or your loved one’s decision-making to hospital authority without proper legal documentation to make medical decisions.

Keeping all of this critical information current is easy by simply uploading new forms, medical information, insurance data, and legal documents to the app. You will not have to guess which prescription information or legal document is most current as all data storage is by date. A medical doctor can even review previous to current medications to make assessments based on health responses to those prescription changes.

The MYLO app does not mean you have to give up your paperwork if you still like that hard copy in a file cabinet somewhere. Many older individuals like covering all bases with both the standard paper file format and the MYLO app. Time is precious when you or someone you love is experiencing an adverse health event. Quick and easy access to reliable health and legal documentation can help drive the best possible outcome for the situation at hand.

If you or a loved one do not yet have health care directives or powers of attorney for financial decisions, we can help. It’s important to have proper legal advice on what options to choose and to make sure the document fully represents your wishes. If you’d like to discuss this in more detail, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Please contact our Reno office by calling us at (775) 853-5700.

Estate Planning, Healthcare

You got the COVID-19 Vaccine, Now What?

SchulzeLawGroup

Eligibility to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming more and more widespread. According to the medical community, vaccinated individuals are significantly less likely to contract COVID-19; however, they may pose a health risk to others. What then is appropriate behavior for vaccinated Americans when considering the health of others? For the moment, not much has changed.

First of all, experts have told us that the COVID-19 vaccines take at least two weeks from receiving the second dose (or the single dose of Johnson and Johnson) to build up your immune response. The Pfizer vaccine offers 95 percent efficacy, while the Moderna vaccine provides 94 percent efficacy, so you are highly resistant to COVID-19 but not completely immune. According to MarketWatch, Dr. Gregory Poland, infectious disease expert and director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minnesota, the .9 percent difference in efficacy rates is “meaningless.” However, according to preliminary data, those who are vaccinated may still contract coronavirus though, they are more likely to be asymptomatic. In the same MarketWatch post, Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease, University at Buffalo in New York, says, “… it’s not clear whether those vaccinated people would be able to pass it to others.” We are still in a time of great uncertainty regarding this pandemic.

There is a low risk of infection when socializing with other fully vaccinated individuals; however, most experts believe it will take months to achieve herd immunity as a nation. Herd immunity occurs when a large enough percentage of the population develops long-lasting immunity through naturally occurring infection resistance or vaccinations to a particular virus or disease.

Should you visit your local grandparent or other older relative now that you have the vaccine? Dr. Russo told MarketWatch if both you and your loved one are fully vaccinated, “the benefits of the visit will outweigh these small risks that they could have of developing a severe case of coronavirus.” The unprecedented rates of social isolation of the American elderly have taken a huge toll on their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. If you and your loved one have been fully vaccinated, make arrangements to meet safely.

The medical community speculates that a vaccination rate of 70 to 80 percent can bring about herd immunity in the US, but we are just beginning the nation’s vaccination journey. The advent of open borders and easing air travel restrictions from other countries continues to provide challenges. In the future, you might need to present a negative COVID-19 test to cross international borders. Currently, those Americans returning from Mexico must now meet this requirement before entering the US. The “slow the spread” protocols remain in place even though you are fully vaccinated.

Once you are fully vaccinated your way of life may not change for a while. It is still important to reach out to friends and loved ones who may still be suffering from feelings of isolation and/or depression. You may be able to visit a loved one in a care facility once you are fully vaccinated. And if you haven’t already, now is a great time to think about your future health, and to make sure you have the correct legal documents in place in case you are unable to make decisions due to illness or incapacity in the future. We would be happy to speak to you about what documents you should be thinking about, including a health care directive, living will, or other documents specific to your wishes and desires. If the past year has taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected and plan accordingly. We can help!

If you have questions or would like to discuss your personal situation, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Please contact our Reno office by calling us at (775) 853-5700.