A medical power of attorney will give a trusted family member or relative, a close friend or a colleague the authority to decide on a medical issue or health care concern in your behalf should a misfortune befall you, making you incapacitated or unable to make important decisions. Such circumstances may include being in a coma or being mentally ill. The medical power of attorney form is a legally binding document that takes into effect immediately after it has been duly signed, executed and delivered to the individual who has been chosen to be the representative. However, a physician must first certify that the individual has become incapacitated and unable to make sound health care decisions before the designated agent or representative can be called upon to decide on the patient’s behalf.

Under the medical power of attorney form, the representative can be given a wide range of health care and medical issues to decide upon including the release and transfer of confidential medical records. The law however prohibits the representative to consent to certain medical concerns such as abortion, a person’s commitment to a mental institution, psychosurgery and convulsive treatment as well as a denial or neglect of comfort care.

Since your appointed agent will be acting in your behalf when you become in capable of making sensitive health care decisions, it is important to carefully choose your appointed representative. Make sure that it is someone that you trust and someone whom you know can make decisions based on what you may want according to your beliefs, your religion, values, tradition and upbringing. That way you will know that the decisions made will not veer away from what you may decide if you were otherwise able to.

Practically just about anybody whom you trust can be chosen to act as your representative by virtue of the medical power of attorney. However the law disallows your health care provider or your residential care provider from being appointed as your representative. Likewise, any employee of your health care provider or your residential care provider cannot be chosen as your agent unless that person is a relative. Once signed, the document is binding unless otherwise revoked. A revocation occurs once the principal inform his or her healthcare provider of such revocation of the medical power of attorney. Moreover, if the principal has appointed his or her spouse to become the agent or representative, the medical power of attorney is revoked immediately after a divorce.

When choosing an agent or representative in your medical power of attorney form, you should recognize that this person will be in charge of making medical resolutions on your part when you become incapacitated. Officially, your agent is granted the legal authority to perform whatever he desires when your medical physician confirms in writing that you lack the ability to perform.

Lawfully, this legal document is not valuable unless you as the principal party signs and executes a disclosure statement that you thoroughly understand the terms of the form. Normally, the law in your state will necessitate you to have at least two witnesses to sign the document along with you to authenticate that you indeed read and understand what the form delineates. Additionally, the witnesses should not have any relation to your physician and is not your business partner.

The good thing about medical power of attorney form is that it is not only used to ask someone to act on your behalf but also to institute non-exclusive, additional means for you to carry out your right to withdraw, withhold, and furnish consent to medical procedures and treatments with the help of your agent. This right may incorporate mental health treatment when you don’t have the aptitude to communicate and understand health care concerns.

You are as well entitled to ask for a ‘do not resuscitate order’, wherein your agent will not permit the hospital to put you on life support. While most hospitals will not carry out resuscitations or intubations when these legal documents are present, they will still cure infections in your body, pump fluids and foods in your blood stream directly, utilize pain management, and give sufficient care and comfort.

Keep in mind that your health care power of attorney will not be legally accepted until you convene two vital requirements. You will need witnesses to sign the form and you should not fail to have it notarized by a notary public. At any time, you can revoke the medical power of attorney form by informing your health care provider and your agent in writing through a ‘revocation of power of attorney form’.