Advance care planning is:
A legal form a person fills out that says:
Capacity to make healthcare decisions involves a patient’s ability to:
The person you choose in your advance health care directive to make health care decisions for you in case you are unable to speak for him/herself. A health care agent agrees to honor your health care goals and advocate for you. (Some states refer to a health care agent as a health care proxy or durable power of attorney for health care)
A living will is a written, legal document that spells out medical treatments you would and would not want to be used to keep you alive if you had a terminal illness, as well as other decisions such as pain management or organ donation.
A person who the patient verbally states will make healthcare decisions for him/her during a current inpatient visit. If choice is verbally expressed versus documented in an advance health care directive, this decision maker is only applicable for the current inpatient visit. In each future admission to the hospital, the choice must be reviewed with the patient if he/she has full capacity.
A medical order that gives patients more control over their care by specifying the types of medical treatment they want to receive during a serious illness. The POLST provides direction for a range of medical treatments so that healthcare providers can provide the treatments patients do want and avoid those that they do not want. A POLST must be signed by a physician and the patient (or the patient’s health care agent if the patient is not able to make decisions for him/herself). Typically, a POLST is on bright colored paper. It is followed by health care providers, including Emergency Medical Services.city.