Get checklist for wv health surrogate

Surrogate decision makers do not know what the patient would want done and are thus charged to decide in the best interests of the patient. In most cases, parents are appropriate surrogate decision makers for their children and should give primacy to the best interests of their child.

For example, the surrogate chooses a long life over maintaining human dignity, but the patient thought a dignified life was in their best interests. A dishonorable surrogate, betraying the patient's trust, chooses a treatment or care option for ulterior reasons.

A surrogate decision maker, also known as a health care proxy or as agents, is an advocate for incompetent patients. If a patient is unable to make decisions for themselves about personal care, some agent must make decisions for them.

If an individual is unable to make decisions about personal health care, some other individual can be authorized to provide direction. Such a person is called the surrogate decision maker, a proxy, or some other term specific to the type of authorization.

Authority of the Surrogate A surrogate may make health care decisions on behalf of a patient if the patient has no available, previously appointed conservator or designated agent with authority to make such decisions, and the primary physician determines and documents that the patient lacks capacity for making health ...

The designation must be signed by the principal in the presence of two witness who must also sign the document in the presence of the principal; The witnesses must be at least 18 years old; The surrogate cannot be a witness; and. At least one of the witness must not be the principal's spouse or blood relative.

You can specify what healthcare decisions your medical power of attorney can make. A healthcare surrogate, on the other hand, is someone who is appointed to make healthcare decisions for you when you become unable to make them for yourself. You have no say in who becomes your healthcare surrogate.

By definition these 3 principles, informed consent, best interest and substituted judgment, are quite distinct.

The Patient Self-Determination Act guarantees a patient's right to formally designate a surrogate to make treatment decisions for the patient if the patient becomes unable to make their own decisions. A surrogate decision-maker, or durable power of attorney for health care (DPA/HC), must be documented.