Advance Directives

Advanced Directives provide YOU the right to make decisions about your healthcare. They allow you to inform people how you would like your healthcare decisions to be carried out. To remove the burden from others and ensure your wishes are respected, it is essential to complete an Advance Directive. There are three types of advance directives:

• Living Will
• Power of Attorney
• Designation of Health Care Surrogate

Living Will – a written statement detailing a person’s desires regarding their medical treatment in circumstances in which they can no longer express informed consent, especially an advance directive.

Power of Attorney – the authority to act for another person in specified or all legal or financial matters. It is a legal document giving power of attorney to someone.

Designation of Health Care Surrogate – a legal document that designates another person (a proxy) to make health care decisions if a person is rendered incapable of making their wishes known. The health care proxy has, in essence, the same rights to request or refuse treatment that the person would have if they were capable of making and communicating decisions.

Important Note: Upon completing the advance directive, you should provide these documents to the health plan, PCP, and other healthcare providers for their records

Plan Obligation

• Leon Health cannot refuse care or otherwise discriminate against an individual based on whether or not the individual has executed an advance directive
• Leon Health members have the right to file a complaint about a plan’s noncompliance with advance directive requirements, and where to file the complaint
• Leon Health must document in a prominent part of the individual’s current medical record whether or not the individual has executed an advance directive
• Leon Health is required to comply with state law
• Leon Health must educate its staff about its policies and procedures for advance directives
• Leon Health must provide community education regarding advance directives

Resources

To learn more about advance directives or to access advance directive forms, visit the following resources:

Florida Agency For Health Care Administration

Telephone: (305) 593-3100
This website provides information for Florida residents regarding advance directives and healthcare planning. They offer descriptions of different types of advance directives, frequently asked questions, and links to helpful resources. They also provide downloadable forms, such as Living Wills, Designation of Health Care Surrogate, Donor Forms, and Wallet Cards about your advance directives.

With Dignity

Telephone: (850) 681-2010
This organization has a document called Five Wishes. This document allows you to express how you want to be treated if you are seriously ill and unable to speak for yourself. This document meets the legal requirements for an advance directive in Florida and most other states.

CaringInfo

Toll-Free Helpline: (800) 658-8898
CaringInfo is a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). This organization works to improve care at the end of life. Their website provides many resources for planning. You can also download your state-specific advance directives.

Donate Life Florida

Telephone: (941) 308-1019
This site offers information on organ and tissue donation and the option to register as a donor. You can also register to become a donor at any Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles office when obtaining a driver’s license or identification card.