Advanced Healthcare Directive
Who will make decisions when you cannot?
Why an advance healthcare directive belongs in every adult's plan — and how PPMA makes it simple
Most of us assume that if we are ever faced a serious medical event, someone close to us would simply know what to do. The truth is harder. When a person can no longer speak for themselves, after an accident, a sudden illness, or during a complex procedure, families are often left guessing. They are forced to make difficult choices with no clear sense of what their loved one would actually want. An advance healthcare directive removes that guesswork. It is one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give the people who care about you.
What is an Advanced Healthcare Directive?
An advance healthcare directive is a legal document that does two things. First, it names a healthcare decision-maker (sometimes called a healthcare agent or proxy), the person you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf when you are unable to. Second, it records your wishes about the care you do and do not want, so your decision-maker and medical team have clear guidelines to follow.
Together, these elements ensure that your values guide your care, even in moments when you cannot voice them yourself. It is not a document about giving up control — it is the opposite. It is how you keep control.
You are Never Too Young or Too Old to Have One!
There is a common misconception that advance directives are only for the elderly or the seriously ill. They are not. Medical emergencies do not check a birthday before they happen. A healthy 30-year-old in a car accident needs a decision-maker just as much as someone with a chronic condition later in life.
This is why advance care planning is increasingly understood as something every adult should do, regardless of age or current health status. If you are old enough to make your own medical decisions, you are old enough to decide who should make them for you if you ever cannot. Completing a directive in good health, on a calm afternoon, is far easier than scrambling to do so during a crisis, and it spares your family from having to.
PPMA Advanced Care Planning
At Private Physicians Medical Associates, advance care planning is part of what your membership provides. We believe this conversation is too important to leave to chance, so we have made it a built-in part of caring for you — not an afterthought, and not something you have to navigate alone.
To make the process simple, secure, and legally sound, PPMA uses Honor My Decisions, a dedicated advance care planning platform. Rather than wrestling with paperwork on your own, you are guided through a straightforward questionnaire that captures your wishes and your choice of decision-maker, then applies your answers to the legally compliant advance directive form. The result is a complete document you can sign and have witnessed.
A few things that make this approach work especially well for our members:
- Guided, not overwhelming. Plain-language questions and educational support walk you through decisions step by step, so the document reflects what you genuinely want.
- Always accessible when it matters. Your completed plan is stored securely and available around the clock, so it can be found in an emergency — not locked in a drawer or a safety deposit box where no one can reach it.
- Easy to keep current. Your wishes can change over time, and updating your plan is simple. The system always presents your most recent version.
- More than a form. Beyond the legal document, the platform helps capture your values and even a video living will, giving your loved ones and care team a fuller picture of who you are and what matters to you.
Completing an advanced directive is not a grim exercise. It is an act of clarity and care for yourself and for everyone who would otherwise be left wondering. When the document is in place, your family is freed from the impossible burden of guessing, and your medical team can act with confidence that they are honoring your wishes.
A Conversation Worth Having
If you have not yet created your advance healthcare directive, there is no better time than now, while you are well and able to think it through unhurried. Call the office to schedule this 20 minute appointment.
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