PAR Advance Directives and Patient Consent

Question 1

What is an advance directive?

Accepted Answer

A legal document expressing a patient's healthcare wishes if they become unable to make decisions

Answer

An advance directive is a legal document that outlines a patient's healthcare preferences and designates a decision-maker in the event they lose decision-making capacity.

Question 2

Which federal law requires hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid to inform patients of their rights regarding advance directives upon admission?

Accepted Answer

PSDA (Patient Self-Determination Act)

Answer

The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) of 1990 mandates that healthcare facilities receiving Medicare/Medicaid funding must inform adult patients of their rights to make healthcare decisions and ask about existing advance directives.

Question 3

What does a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order specify?

Accepted Answer

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should not be attempted if the patient's heart or breathing stops

Answer

A DNR order is a physician's order, based on patient or surrogate wishes, that instructs medical staff not to perform CPR in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest.

Question 4

What is a living will?

Accepted Answer

A written statement detailing the medical treatments a patient wants or does not want under specific conditions

Answer

A living will is an advance directive in which a competent person documents the specific medical treatments they want or do not want if they become incapacitated and face a terminal condition or permanent unconsciousness.

Question 5

What is the primary role of a Patient Access Representative (PAR) when a patient arrives without an advance directive?

Accepted Answer

Provide the patient with written information about their right to create an advance directive

Answer

Under the PSDA, PARs must provide patients with written information about their rights to execute advance directives; they cannot require patients to have one as a condition of admission.

(PAR) Patient Access Representative Certification Practice Test

(PAR) Patient Access Representative Certification Practice Test

PAR Advance Directives and Patient Consent