A DPOA-HC allows your agent to make any health care decision for you when you cannot make it yourself. A person cannot make a health care decision if they are mentally incompetent, unconscious or sedated. A DPOA-HC is a useful tool to ensure that someone else can be available to tell the physicians, hospital or nursing home what type of treatment, medication or medical procedure should be used.
A DPOA-HC also allows your agent to obtain your medical records and seek a second opinion. It also allows your agent to hire and fire physicians or transfer you to a different hospital or health care facility, including a nursing home. This type of authority gives your agent the broadest possible power to ensure that the medical treatment you are receiving is the best.
A DPOA-HC also allows your agent to instruct the physicians and hospital to withhold or withdraw medical treatment if you are terminally ill and death is imminent or if your are permanently unconscious. For many people, the prospect of being kept alive artificially is something they wish to avoid.
A DPOA-HC should not be confused with two other similar documents. With a Durable Power of Attorney, you are also selecting an agent. However, with a Durable Power of Attorney, the person you select only receives the authority to handle your financial affairs. It is a separate document from a DPOA-HC. Likewise, a Living Will is a document where you state in advance that you do not wish to be kept alive artificially. A Living Will consists of your instructions to the physicians, hospital and nursing home to withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment if it is artificially prolonging your life. A Living Will is also a separate document.
Guiley & Guiley can prepare a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care for you and your loved ones. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, please contact Guiley & Guiley.
