Karen Smith, Ph.D
Presented on Wednesday, July 17, 2024 – 4:00 PM MST
Watch this webinar: http://bit.ly/4adPsUX
A number of ethical and legal issues are involved in cases where ‘Medical Power of Attorney’ capacities are faulty or questionable. Central issues are whether the surrogate’s decision represents the patient’s own best interests and whether the decision is a fully-informed, reasonable choice. When issues of incapacitated surrogates arise, the healthcare system has limited options for removing the incapacitated decision maker. Failure to effectively manage such situations can result in poor outcomes for patient care and excessive burdens for the healthcare system. Instead, care teams must look for ways to evaluate those whose decision-making we question and seek alternatives to the decision-making process while still providing optimum patient care. Many cases where surrogate decision-making is questionable lead to inappropriate or overly lengthy hospital stays. This presentation will offer a reasonable way to evaluate when steps need to be taken to legally remove a surrogate.
