Federal Patient Self-Determination Act

Posted on: 2013 04 01

I’m in the process of deciding on whether or not to become a guardian for a senior who is not able to care for himself or herself.  In the process I’ve learned about the Federal Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA), passed by Congress in 1990.   The PSDA requires that patients have the right to facilitate their own health care decisions, have the right to accept or refuse medical and dental treatment and have the right to make an advance health care directive.  The act also states that facilities must ask a patient whether or not they already have an advance health care directive, make note of it in their medical records, educate their staff about advance health care directives, and the health care provider is not allowed to discrimately admit or treat patients based on whether or not they have one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Self-Determination_Act).   The goal of the act is to inform patients that they have certain rights when it comes to their own medical care and it ensure that these rights are communicated to the healthcare provider.   But what happens if you are not able to voice your choices?  What documents do you need to have on hand to make sure your health care choices are understood and carried out?   What the NHDD and I encourage you to have in case of the above situation is an advance directive.  There are two main forms that advance directives come in and which you should consider having in place (http://www.nhdd.org/public-resources/):