The practice of medicine involves a lot of paperwork, and not just for doctors. Even if they’re already stacking piles of co-pay bills, benefits estimate statements and reminder cards for long-past ...

States generally allow a person (principal) to appoint another person (agent) to make health care decisions, receive protected health information, or both on the principal’s behalf. In many states, ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

There are a number of assumptions that the legitimacy of a particular application of an advance directive appears to operate under. First, there is the assumption that the author of the advance ...

Two main types of advance directives are living wills and healthcare power of attorney. These are legal documents that outline a person’s preferences regarding major medical decisions. An advance ...

Implementing advance care planning consults can increase advance directive completion rates. The authors demonstrate the impact of consults on completed advance directives in the medical record.

An advance directive gives instructions on the kind of medical care you would like to receive should you become unable to express your wishes yourself, and it often designates someone to make medical ...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people unexpectedly needed critical care such as ventilators but were unable to communicate their end-of-life wishes to their loved ones. Researchers like me, who ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I am a Forbes.com Contributor specializing in geriatric health and women's health articles. End-of-life planning isn’t an easy ...

An advance directive for the state where you live may not be effective in another state. Some states have provisions that respect out-of-state directives as long as they conform to the requirements of ...

In our last article, we shared about a friend’s court battle to become the legal medical decision-maker for her father who was suffering from cognitive decline. Although it was a necessary step to ...