Michigan's Patient Advocate Law

A patient advocate designation is a document used to give someone the power to make medical and health care decisions for you when you are unable to do so yourself. This agreement is also called a health care proxy or a durable power of attorney for health care.

Function

• A patient advocate is someone you have chosen to represent your best interests for your health care and treatment, should you be unable to make those decisions due to illness, injury or an accident. It is a legally binding agreement, giving that person the right to make these decisions for you, as spelled out in your patient advocate designation agreement. This agreement may include both mental and physical health decisions.

Requirements

• To be a patient advocate in Michigan, you must be at least 18 years old. Should you decide to appoint a patient advocate, the law says that you must fully understand that you are turning over decision-making powers to someone if you become unable to make them yourself.

Care Decisions

• Your patient advocate can decide what kind of treatment you should or should not receive. She can decide whether you should have surgery to correct a problem, if you should receive home care, or the extent or type of any other medical care you receive. You can also give your patient advocate the power to donate your organs upon your death.

Emergency Medical Card

• If you have designated a patient advocate, you should print out and complete a Michigan emergency medical card. Carry this card in your wallet, in case of emergency. In addition to naming your patient advocate, it also includes the name of someone to contact in an emergency, your doctor's name, your blood type and any medical conditions you may have.

Driver's License

• If you have an emergency medical card, you should note this on the back of your Michigan driver's license. Either check the box or put a sticker or decal in the appropriate place to denote that you are carrying an emergency medical card.

Discuss Your Wishes

• Since you will want your patient advocate to make decisions based on your own personal wishes and beliefs, it is important for the two of you to discuss how you want her to handle specific situations that may arise. For example, if you do not want to be put in a nursing home, you should make that clear. If your religion prohibits surgery or blood transfusions, you should make your advocate aware. You can give your patient advocate the power to make end-of-life decisions for you, such as whether to withhold food or water administered through feeding tubes, or to stop treatment that may keep you alive.