{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-216b.231","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 216B.231","heading":"Hospital must allow a patient or patient's legal guardian to designate a","body":"lay caregiver for post-discharge assistance in the patient's residence.\n(1) A hospital shall provide each patient or, if applicable, the patient's legal guardian\nwith at le ast one (1) opportunity to designate one (1) lay caregiver following the\npatient's admission into a hospital and prior to the patient's discharge.\n(2) If the patient is unconscious or otherwise incapacitated upon admission into a\nhospital, the hospital shall provide the patient or the patient's legal guardian with an\nopportunity to designate a lay caregiver when the patient recovers his or her\nconsciousness or capacity, so long as the designation or lack of a designation does\nnot interfere with, delay, or o therwise affect the medical care provided to the\npatient.\n(3) If the patient or the patient's legal guardian declines to designate a lay caregiver, the\nhospital shall document this election in the patient's medical record, and the hospital\nshall be deemed to comply with KRS 216B.230 to 216B.239 .\n(4) If the patient or the patient's legal guardian designates an individual as a lay\ncaregiver under this section, the hospital shall request the written consent of the\npatient or the patient's legal guardian to re lease medical information to the patient's\ndesignated lay caregiver following the hospital's established procedures for\nreleasing personal health information and in compliance with all federal and state\nlaws.\n(5) If the patient or the patient's legal guard ian declines to consent to release medical\ninformation to the patient's designated lay caregiver, the hospital shall not be\nrequired to provide notice to the caregiver under KRS 216B.233 or provide\ninformation contained in the patient's discharge plan under KRS 216B.235.\n(6) The hospital shall record the patient's designation of lay caregiver, the relationship\nof the designated caregiver to the patient, and the name, telephone number, and\naddress of the patient's designated lay caregiver in the patient's medical record.\n(7) A patient may elect to change his or her designated lay caregiver at any time, and\nthe hospital shall record this change in the patient's medical record as soon as\npracticable.\n(8) A designation of a lay caregiver by a patient or a patien t's legal guardian under this\nsection shall not obligate any individual to perform any after -care tasks for any\npatient.\n(9) This section shall not be construed to require a patient or a patient's legal guardian\nto designate any individual as a lay caregiver.","path":["KRS Chapter 216B"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=45868","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:23Z","sha256":"a22fe6ea16d4b70a037967630406dffed189fd1c98c7b114e7274eb61e1b2521","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-216b.230","next":"us-ky/krs-216b.233"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}