Advance Health Care Directive

An advance health care directive

Gives your agent the authority to make decisions on your behalf (Health Care Agent)
Tells them what choices you would like them to make (Living Will, Health Care Directive)
Includes a HIPPA waiver so they can access your medical records
Includes a nomination of conservator/adult guardian (most likely never used)
Is not a POLST or DNR (those are signed with your doctor if you are hospitalized or ill, if they conflict, the most recent documents wins)

This document also includes a HIPPA waiver, so your health care agents and trustees may pick up your medical records or transfer them between institutions.

This document is meant to help avoid a conservatorship. A conservatorship is a court proceeding for the guardianship of an adult without capacity to make medical decisions. It is expensive, time-consuming, and often uncomfortable for the conserved person, and is generally a result to be avoided (like probate).

In some cases, such as a family dispute about the care of the adult, a conservator is still needed, and this document states you are nominating your health care agent to serve as conservator. This is meant to reduce the potential for family conflict and ensure the person you think will best follow your wishes is the person who ends up making them. Another good option for reducing conflict is having a conversation with each member of your family so they understand your wishes and are prepared for what decisions might be made on your behalf.

This document is not a Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR). In California, a DNR needs to be signed by your physician. To obtain a DNR form, please contact the California Medical Association (CMA) publications office directly, at 1(800) 882-1262 or visit the CMA store webpage to purchase the form, or speak with your physician. A DNR is generally used to prevent emergency responders from starting resuscitation in an emergency where your health care agent is not available and is posted around the home. If you chose the standard, stop-life sustaining options, your agent cand decline resuscitation when they are present or in a hospital.

This document is not a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). The POLST form is a medical order that gives hospitalized patients more control over their care by specifying the type of medical treatment a patient wishes to receive at the end of life. A POLST is meant to ensure that if your health care agent is not present, the medical team can follow your wishes. A POLST is generally prepared when a patient is checked into the hospital. If you currently have a serious medical condition or an expected upcoming hospitalization, we recommend you answer the POLST questions so your healthcare agent knowns your specific wishes.

Physicians Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatments

If you currently have a serious medical condition or expected hospitalization where you might be incapacitated (not pregnancies), we recommend you answer the POLST questions so your healthcare agent does not have to guess.

Without a specific diagnosis, POLST answers are often guesswork and preferences change over time and with different medical conditions, so we do not recommend them for everyone. Someone who is expecting a hospitalization because they are having ankle surgery is in a very different situation then someone who has a terminal cancer diagnosis, and those answers should be updated at the time of the situation.