What is the Patient Self-Determination Act?
1. Give you at the time of admission a written summary of: – your health care decision-making rights (Each state has developed such a summary for hospitals, nursing homes, and home health agencies to use.) – the facility’s policies with respect to recognizing advance directives. 2. Ask you if you have an advance directive, and document that fact in your medical record if you do. (It is up to you to make sure they get a copy of it). 3. Educate their staff and community about advance directives. 4. Never discriminate against patients based on whether or not they have an advance directive. Thus, it is against the law for them to require either that you have or not have an advance directive.
