State Laws on Advanced Directives
The patient self-determination act of 1990 was developed to ensure that the patient’s right to self-determination in health care decisions get protected and communicated. Compliance with this law is mandatory. The advance directives allow the patients to accept or reject medical or surgical treatment while competent (Showalter, 2017). There are specific requirements set that hospitals must meet for them to comply with the PSDA. The first requirement in the state of Florida is that hospitals are expected to routinely provide information on advance directives to the patient at the time of admission. The hospital should provide a written summary of the patient’s health care decision-making rights. The review provided by the state of Florida covers five areas. The first is general provisions and definitions. The second is healthcare surrogates. The third is life-prolonging procedures. The fourth is procedures in the absence of advance directives, and the fifth is anatomical gifts.
The primary purpose of these laws is to allow the patient to plan for their future health care needs with a reasonable certainty degree. It also allows the patient to prepare for their incapacity to decide by executing a document or designating another person to make his or her health care decisions based on their capacity (Showalter, 2017). A well-executed surrogate designation is less expensive and less lesser restrictive to guardianship. Without an appointed surrogate, the patient’s health care decisions are left to a court-appointed proxy or guardian (Showalter, 2017). The hospital is also required to ask the patient if they have an advance directive and record it in the patient’s medical document if they do. The hospital should educate the community and its staff about advance directives. The hospital should not discriminate against patients whether they have or do not have an advance directive.
References
Showalter, S. (2017). The Law of Healthcare Administration [Ebook] (8th ed.). Chicago: Health Administration Press; Washington, DC: Association of University Programs in Health Administration.