Healthcare Power of Attorney in Buchanan

Choose people for the role, not just names on a form

Start by considering who could listen to your wishes, communicate with healthcare providers, and make decisions when you cannot speak for yourself. Consider practical availability as well as trust: someone who is difficult to reach, lives far away, or may be uncomfortable making decisions under pressure might not be your best first choice. Discuss the responsibility with each person before naming them.

Then consider an alternate. Compare whether your first choice and alternate are likely to be reachable, understand your priorities, and be able to take on the role if needed. Think about whether they would support the same broad approach to care, especially if they would need to act without being able to consult you. Naming an alternate is not a substitute for discussing your wishes with the people you select.

• Could this person be reached and communicate effectively when needed?
• Would they be comfortable following your preferences, even if they differ from their own?
• Who could serve as an alternate, and have you discussed the responsibility with them?

Separate decision-making authority from information access

A healthcare power of attorney concerns authority to make healthcare decisions on your behalf. A HIPAA authorization concerns sharing health information. A separate information-sharing authorization alone does not appoint someone as your healthcare decision-maker. Conversely, do not assume that a decision-maker always needs a separate HIPAA authorization: state-law authority may make a person a HIPAA personal representative.

Review any existing documents and instructions together. Identify what each document is intended to do, who it names, and whether the people and preferences still reflect your wishes. If you want someone to receive information but not make decisions, make that distinction clear when discussing your documents. If the same person has both roles, the roles still have different purposes.

• Healthcare decision-maker: who may act for you when you cannot make or communicate a decision.
• Information recipient: who may receive health information under an authorization or applicable representative authority.

Prepare a practical review sheet

Before a planning conversation, make a one-page inventory rather than relying on memory. List your proposed primary agent and alternate, their current contact details, and whether you have spoken with each. Add a short summary of care preferences you want to discuss, along with the location of any existing healthcare directive, living will, or HIPAA authorization.

Use the inventory to flag mismatches: an outdated contact, different people named in different documents, preferences that have changed, or uncertainty about whether an existing document grants decision-making authority or only information access. Tennessee’s Advance Directive for Health Care form addresses an agent, an alternate, and healthcare preferences; consult the form’s own instructions about signing and sharing copies rather than relying on a general checklist.

• Bring copies of current healthcare directives, living wills, and information-sharing authorizations.
• Note whom you want contacted, the role you intend each person to have, and any questions about conflicting or outdated instructions.

Questions to resolve before finalizing

Ask whether your selected agent and alternate understand the role and know where to find the relevant documents. Ask how your care preferences should be expressed so the people you name can understand them. If a document is already in place, ask whether it names the people you still want and whether its scope matches your intentions.

Dale Law Group, PLLC offers healthcare power of attorney planning and advance healthcare directives and living wills. Buchanan is an unincorporated Census-designated place in Henry County, not a separate city government. The firm’s listed office is in Murfreesboro; no Buchanan office is listed. Contact the firm to discuss planning for your Tennessee documents.