Before diving in to the case study, a healthcare agent is a generic term that some people use to describe the person who makes healthcare decisions on your behalf if you cannot do so yourself; your healthcare power of attorney. Your health care agent (who is named in your healthcare power of attorney document, also called an advanced healthcare directive) is part of a comprehensive estate plan that you should have in California.

A few weeks ago, I got a call from a client. She had been in the hospital for a relatively minor surgery, a planned event. Before the surgery, the hospital (an HMO she had belonged to for decades) asked if the advanced healthcare directive they had on file was accurate. She said yes, without thinking. But then she asked: actually, what does it say? When is it from?

The hospital administrator pulled up the advanced healthcare directive. It named her spouse as the first healthcare agent. The second agent was a friend of hers; importantly, that friend had passed away several years ago. She looked closer at the document: it was dated from 1994. In 1994, her kids were minors, her friend was alive, and her concerns were vastly different.

Equally importantly, she HAD updated the document. She had worked with me on it, and had updated it twice since 2015. But it wasn’t on file with her doctor’s office/the hospital/anywhere helpful.

In that moment, she asked the hospital to make note of who her healthcare agents were for the purpose of this surgery (which went fine). Afterwards, she asked them how to make sure they had everything on file. She uploaded it to their system and the hospital confirmed it was there — ready to go.

The healthcare power of attorney/advanced healthcare directive can be a key document when you’re at the hospital. If you already have one from your attorney, please be sure it’s on file with the hospital or doctor! Otherwise, tell your healthcare agents where they can find the documents in case they need to come to the hospital with the paperwork to prove they are your agents.

Schedule a consultation with me to talk through your comprehensive estate plan, which includes the advanced healthcare directive!