Healthcare Power of Attorney in Wartrace

Choose for availability as well as trust

A healthcare power of attorney identifies a person to make healthcare decisions on your behalf within the document’s scope. Think about whether your preferred person is likely to be reachable when needed and able to understand and communicate your wishes. Consider naming an alternate, and discuss your preferences with each person you are considering.

Compare candidates by asking who can handle the responsibility, who can follow your stated priorities even if their own preferences differ, and who should step in if the first choice is unavailable. A family relationship alone does not answer those practical questions.

Separate decision-making from access to information

Healthcare decision-making authority and permission to receive health information are related but distinct. Under HIPAA, authority under state law can make someone a personal representative; a separate information-sharing authorization by itself does not appoint that person to make healthcare decisions. Do not assume that every agent always needs a separate HIPAA authorization, either.

Review any existing information-sharing authorization alongside your healthcare power of attorney. Check whom each document names and what each is intended to do, rather than treating a permission to share information as an appointment to make decisions.

Coordinate the agent with your care preferences

Tennessee’s Advance Directive for Health Care form addresses both an agent or alternate and healthcare preferences. That makes it useful to consider the decision-maker and the guidance they will use together. Think through which preferences you want recorded and how your chosen agent should understand them.

A healthcare power of attorney is not a financial power of attorney. Financial agents, healthcare agents, trustees and court-appointed guardians or conservators have different roles; the name of one role does not establish authority for another. Review each document according to the decisions it is meant to cover.

Prepare a document-and-questions checklist

Before seeking help, gather any existing healthcare power of attorney, advance directive or living will, HIPAA authorization, and other instructions you want considered. Make a short list identifying each named person, any alternate, and the purpose you believe each document serves. Note anything that appears inconsistent or out of date.

Bring questions such as: Who should serve first, and who is the best alternate? What decisions should the document address? How should preferences be expressed so an agent can use them? Does an existing information-sharing authorization still match your choices? What document-signing and copy-sharing instructions should you follow? Tennessee’s form includes signing and copy-sharing instructions; the appropriate steps depend on the document, so avoid relying on an assumed signing recipe.

Dale Law Group, PLLC offers healthcare power of attorney planning, advance healthcare directives and living wills, and HIPAA authorizations. The firm’s office is in Murfreesboro and serves clients in Tennessee; Wartrace is in Bedford County. The Town of Wartrace’s municipal information is separate from healthcare planning and does not determine how a healthcare document should be prepared.