Patients Need Patience – Notarizations in healthcare and hospital settings

Getting documents notarized during a health emergency can be challenging.

Oftentimes, we don’t realize until it’s too late that not all of our healthcare or estate paperwork may be in order in the event of a medical emergency. Even when a health crisis is not an unforeseen accident, patients in health care facilities and their families often need documents notarized before admission or scheduled surgery.

While some hospitals may have a notary on staff to assist patients with critical paperwork, others may not offer this service or even provide a referral to a specific notary to avoid a conflict of interest. In those cases, a mobile notary is an essential asset for these patients and their families, providing the most convenient service.

There are a number of documents that may need to be notarized prior to or during a hospital stay, including Powers of Attorney or Health Care Proxy, Living Trusts, HIPAA waivers, Paternity Affidavits…just to name a few. Some extra supplies a notary can have on hand include pens and clipboards to assist signers if tables are not available in the signing space. Confirming in advance that the patient has government-issued identification is also extremely important.

Extra care and consideration for patients in need.

Any kind of medical situation can leave signers and their families feeling emotional and nervous. The importance of courtesy and discretion is paramount. The patient’s physical condition, or even their medications, can affect their ability to complete the signing or to understand the paperwork.

Although most caregivers or doctors would advise that if a patient is not fit to sign a document, it’s important to discuss this directly with the signer to ensure they are aware of the current circumstances and willing to proceed with a signing appointment. If a patient seems not to understand what’s going on, feels pressured by family, or outright refuses to sign once the notary has arrived (this has happened to me), then the notary must halt the appointment.

In these delicate situations, remember that if this were your loved one, you would hope they would be treated with kindness and respect throughout this tough time.  In addition to providing emotional support to signing clients, the notary may be asked by the healthcare facility to take additional health precautions, such as wearing protective clothing or face coverings, and even to confirm testing or vaccination against communicable diseases.

You also need to remain flexible, as these situations can be very unpredictable. It may take a few visits to sign the documents, which may incur extra costs for parking, travel, etc. Graciously reschedule as needed, ensuring clients have your up-to-date contact information.

Padding extra time into your schedule.

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, maintaining a timely schedule is crucial in the notary business, especially for mobile notaries. And healthcare facility visits can require extra time in addition to the extra care for patients and their families. From the first contact, take the time to ask additional questions beyond the basics for the appointment. Is parking available, and will it be reimbursed if the notary has to pay for it?

Is there a check-in process for visitors at the facility, and could long lines take a while? Is the patient ready for the appointment, or has the situation changed recently? Giving yourself that extra cushion of time for these appointments will help the notary feel calm and confident.

True story – a client called me to a hospital to see her terminally ill father. When we scheduled the appointment the evening before, she confirmed that he was well enough and willing to sign, that he had his identification, and that all the documents were ready. The day of the signing appointment, I meet the client, and we go to her father’s hospital room, where he is in no mood to take care of signing the important paperwork and repeats “NO” over and over.

The client is distraught and upset, so I excused myself down to the hospital lobby and told her I would give them some privacy for 20 minutes, then I would check back in with them via my mobile phone. After 15 minutes, the client called me and asked me to come back up for the signing. The situation was resolved, and I confirmed with the ailing father that he was willing to sign and did not feel under any duress. That extra time was critical in this case to ensure the family documents were signed, and all parties involved felt relieved.