When an injured adult cannot communicate, you can start by contacting the care team, locating existing decision-making documents and keeping a record of each request. Receiving a hospital update, obtaining medical records, making treatment decisions and signing an injury settlement involve different permissions. Ask who is recognized for the particular task before acting on the person’s behalf.
A phone call from the hospital can leave a family trying to arrange childcare while searching for a power of attorney. You can take on useful work now, even while staff clarify who may receive information or make decisions. This guide concerns a living adult in Arizona. A child’s care and a deceased person’s estate follow different rules.
Start with the care team
Ask the nurse or treating clinician how the patient can participate right now. Someone who cannot speak or physically sign may still be able to express a choice. Ask about communication assistance and how staff assess the particular decision. A relative should not declare the person incapable based on a diagnosis, silence or difficulty moving.
Arizona’s health-care power-of-attorney law even includes a procedure for someone physically unable to sign or mark the document. The person must directly indicate their wishes and intent to the notary or witness. That is a safeguard, not permission for a relative to create an authorization while the patient is unconscious.
Tell staff your relationship and the task you are trying to handle. Ask who coordinates family communication, where existing directives should be sent, and how to report something the team should know. If you notice a new medical concern, tell the treating team immediately. Paperwork can wait for that conversation.
Check the permission for each task
Use this table to prepare a request. The provider or attorney will need to review the facts and any documents involved.
| What you need to do | Where to start | What to clarify |
|---|---|---|
| Receive a care update | The treating team | What information can be shared for your role in care or payment? |
| Get copies of the chart | Medical records or the privacy office | What authorization or representative status supports access, and which records does it cover? |
| Make a treatment decision | The clinician coordinating care | Who is recognized under an existing directive, court order or Arizona’s surrogate rules? |
| Sign a legal or insurance document | An attorney reviewing the proposed document | Does your authority cover this specific act? Health-care authority alone does not answer that question. |
Write down the office’s answer rather than relying on a family group chat. For example, being listed as the hospital’s contact person should prompt a separate authority check when an insurer later asks for a signature. Keep the proposed document until someone has reviewed what it permits or gives up.
Ask for information tied to the help you are providing
A spouse calling while the patient is unconscious can explain what information is needed to help with care. Under HHS guidance on an incapacitated patient’s information, a provider may share relevant care or payment information when professional judgment finds disclosure in the patient’s best interest. HIPAA does not require every requested disclosure in that situation.
Make the request specific. You might need instructions for collecting prescribed supplies or details about a planned transfer. Ask which staff member can answer and how the office verifies callers. A limited update does not establish a right to the entire chart.
If staff cannot disclose information, ask how you can provide something relevant, such as a medication list or the name of the patient’s usual doctor. The office may have a designated process. Receiving your information does not require it to disclose information in return.
Identify who can make health-care decisions
Look for an existing health-care power of attorney or directive. Ask whether a relevant court order already exists. Send copies through the provider’s designated channel and confirm they reached the person responsible for reviewing them. Keep the original documents secure.
A.R.S. § 36-3231 directs providers to seek and follow a health-care directive when an adult cannot make or communicate treatment decisions. A qualifying agent acts as surrogate, although a guardian expressly appointed for health-care decisions takes that role. When neither applies, the statute gives a priority order for available, willing people:
- A spouse, unless legally separated.
- An adult child. If several adult children are reasonably available, the provider seeks a majority’s consent.
- A parent.
- A domestic partner, if the patient is unmarried.
- A sibling.
- A close friend who meets the statute’s requirements.
The surrogate follows the patient’s known wishes. Ask the provider who has been recognized and why. Share any disagreement or competing document with that team promptly. This priority list concerns health-care treatment. It does not give the first relative on the list general control over the person’s finances or injury claim.
Use the records office for a chart request
An adult child asking for the complete chart needs a different conversation from someone requesting a bedside update. HHS explains that a personal representative’s access rights depend on authority under applicable law. A limited health-care role supports access to information relevant to that role. Exceptions include situations involving abuse, neglect or endangerment.
Ask the records office which documents establish your authority and whether it needs additional verification. A document’s title alone may not settle the issue. Have the actual power of attorney or order reviewed, including its scope and when it takes effect.
Arizona protects medical and payment records under A.R.S. § 12-2292. Ask which disclosure process applies to your request, what remains missing and when to follow up. Do not assume every request has the same deadline.
For the separate task of identifying the files to request, use our guide to complete medical records after an Arizona crash. Keep the permission documents with your request receipt. Ask about authorized proxy access instead of using the patient’s portal login as a substitute for permission.
Have claim documents checked before signing
An insurer may ask a relative for a medical authorization, release or other signature while the injured person remains hospitalized. Save the document. Ask what the signature would authorize and who must sign it.
Arizona separately addresses financial powers of attorney in A.R.S. § 14-5501. Being the health-care surrogate does not itself establish authority to retain counsel, release claims or accept a settlement. Even an existing power of attorney needs review for the proposed action.
Ask an attorney to check your authority and the document together. If something else is needed, get advice about the appropriate legal arrangement. Do not sign the patient’s name or describe yourself as their authorized representative without a valid basis. Avoid backdating paperwork.
You can still organize documents already lawfully in your possession and record what you personally observed. Keep original messages and insurer correspondence. Record any stated response date, but do not assume hospitalization automatically pauses a claim deadline. Our Arizona injury-deadline guide explains why the claim type and parties need separate review.
Keep one contact log for the family
Use a notebook or a private file with limited access. If several relatives are helping, record who made each call so the next person does not start again with a different office.
Copy these fields for each request
- Date, time and office
- Include the hospital department or insurer, staff member’s name and a verified callback number.
- Task requested
- Specify the care update, document copy or proposed signature. Keep different requests in separate entries.
- Authority discussed
- Record the document requested, how it was submitted and any question about its scope.
- Response and next step
- Note what was provided, what is still missing, who is following up and the date given by the office.
Keep medical details out of public posts. A call log can refer to a secure document’s filename without repeating its contents. And when the patient can participate, ask whom they want involved before continuing the family’s arrangement.
Common family questions
Does being the emergency contact let me make every decision?
No. Ask what the contact designation permits. Treatment authority, records access and legal signatures require their own checks. Being the person staff call first does not settle all of them.
Can we make a new power of attorney if the person cannot sign?
Physical inability to sign can be addressed under Arizona’s health-care power-of-attorney requirements when the person can directly indicate their wishes and intent. Ask for help with the required procedure. An unconscious person’s relative cannot simply supply that choice for them.
Must the hospital give every relative the same information?
No. Information sharing depends on the person’s role, the patient’s wishes and the applicable authority. Ask what can be shared for the help you are providing, and refer unresolved access questions to the privacy office.
Can the health-care surrogate settle the injury claim?
That health-care role alone does not establish settlement authority. An attorney should review the authority documents and proposed settlement before anyone signs on the injured adult’s behalf.
When hospital calls leave little room for claim paperwork
You may be trying to keep relatives informed while an insurer asks for a signature. Talk with our team about the injury claim and the documents needed to clarify who can act.
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Sources checked November 9, 2026. This guide provides general information about helping a living adult in Arizona. It does not establish authority for a particular person or replace advice about their circumstances.