Patients & Visitors' Guide
Health Care Proxy
Addison Gilbert and Beverly hospitals provide excellent health
care to patients, affording people the right to choose their
medical treatment. What would happen if you were unable to
make or communicate your wishes? That is when an advance
directive is helpful.
An advance directive is a document that you may sign or verbally
confirm, which gives instructions about your health care. If
you become unable to make decisions, your physicians and loved ones
will use those instructions to guide your treatment.
The Health Care Proxy
The Health Care Proxy is an advance directive in which
you name another person as your health care agent. Your agent
can then make medical decisions if you become unable to make them
for yourself. This type of advance directive, the Health Care
Proxy, is a legal document in Massachusetts and the law upholds
it.
The Health Care Proxy takes effect only if your physician
decides that you are unable to make or communicate your
decisions. It ceases being effective as soon as you recover
that ability.
While the proxy is in effect, your agent can make decisions for
you, just as if you were making them for yourself. This may
include permission to:
- Perform surgery
- Use or to stop life support machines
- Administer medicine or CPR
The only decisions that an agent cannot make are the ones you
specify on the Health Care Proxy form and those regarding pain
management. Your physicians can manage your pain to make you
comfortable with or without permission from your agent.
This type of advance directive is similar to the Durable Power
of Attorney for Health Care used by some other states. If you
fill out a Health Care Proxy form while at Addison Gilbert or
Beverly Hospital, it is effective throughout the country.
The Living Will
The Living Will is an advance directive in which you
state in simple terms what medical care you would or would not want
if you could not make decisions. Most Living Wills require
that you be diagnosed with a life threatening disease before they
become effective.
Some examples of statements used in Living Wills include, "Do
not place me on a machine, or "Don't use heroic measures to keep me
alive." This information is often helpful in informing your
physicians and loved ones about how you feel. However, it is
not always detailed enough to be useful in a specific
situation.
Another disadvantage to the Living Will is that there are no
laws in Massachusetts to ensure that it will be followed
properly.
Without an Advance Directive
Filling out an advance directive is entirely
optional. No hospital, physician or insurance company can
require you to do so.
If you have not filled out an advance directive and you should
need one, the treatment team (physicians, nurses and others) will
do the best they can without it. They will talk with members
of your family to reach an adequate decision about your care.
Usually, this is a very simple process. Sometimes, however,
there are difficult questions, such as "Who should be the
spokesperson for the family?" or "What if the family and physicians
disagree about what to do?" By completing an advance
directive, you help avoid this uncertainty.
If You Change Your Mind
If you wish to stop your advance directive from taking
effect, all you need to do is let someone know, verbally or in
writing. You can also revoke an advance directive by
destroying it.
To make changes to an advance directive, just fill out a new
one. The new one will automatically replace the older
versions you have. If you want to change or revoke your
advance directive, let your physician and hospital staff know
immediately.
Getting Started
If you are interested in filling out a Health Care Proxy
form, you are encouraged to discuss these important issues with
your physician, your family and your friends. If you decide
you want more information about advance directives, please call the
social work department of the hospital. You will be put in
touch with staff that is prepared to help you.
At Addison Gilbert and Beverly hospitals, we use the Health Care
Proxy type of advance directive. If the Living Will or
another type of advance directive appeals to you, we recommend also
completing a Health Care Proxy form to designate someone as your
health care agent. Then, spend some time talking with your agent
about your feelings, your values and your preferences. Once
you have completed an advance directive, keep a copy for your own
files, give a copy to your agent and also be sure that your
physician and hospital have copies.
