Bill Text: VA HB267 | 2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Advance Health Care Directive Registry; notification to physicians.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-03-01 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0016) [HB267 Detail]

Download: Virginia-2010-HB267-Chaptered.html

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CHAPTER 16 An Act to amend and reenact §§54.1-2983 and 54.1-2995 of the Code of Virginia, as they may become effective, relating to notification of the Advance Health Care Directive Registry. [H 267] Approved March 1, 2010

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§54.1-2983 and 54.1-2995 of the Code of Virginia, as they may become effective, are amended and reenacted as follows:

§54.1-2983. (For contingent effective date - see Editor's note) Procedure for making advance directive; notice to physician.

Any adult capable of making an informed decision may, at any time, make a written advance directive to address any or all forms of health care in the event the declarant is later determined to be incapable of making an informed decision. A written advance directive shall be signed by the declarant in the presence of two subscribing witnesses and may (i) specify the health care the declarant does or does not authorize; (ii) appoint an agent to make health care decisions for the declarant; and (iii) specify an anatomical gift, after the declarant's death, of all of the declarant's body or an organ, tissue or eye donation pursuant to Article 2 (§32.1-289.2 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 32.1. A written advance directive may be submitted to the Advance Health Care Directive Registry, pursuant to Article 9 (§54.1-2994 et seq.) of this chapter. Such directive shall be notarized before being submitted to the registry.

Further, any adult capable of making an informed decision who has been diagnosed by his attending physician as being in a terminal condition may make an oral advance directive (i) directing the specific health care the declarant does or does not authorize in the event the declarant is incapable of making an informed decision, and (ii) appointing an agent to make health care decisions for the declarant under the circumstances stated in the advance directive if the declarant should be determined to be incapable of making an informed decision. An oral advance directive shall be made in the presence of the attending physician and two witnesses.

An advance directive may authorize an agent to take any lawful actions necessary to carry out the declarant's decisions, including, but not limited to, granting releases of liability to medical providers, releasing medical records, and making decisions regarding who may visit the patient.

It shall be the responsibility of the declarant to provide for notification to his attending physician that an advance directive has been made. If an advance directive has been submitted to the Advance Health Care Directive Registry pursuant to Article 9 of this chapter (§54.1-2994 et seq.), it shall be the responsibility of the declarant to provide his attending physician, legal representative, or other person with the information necessary to access the advance directive. In the event the declarant is comatose, incapacitated or otherwise mentally or physically incapable of communication, any other person may notify the physician of the existence of an advance directive and, if applicable, the fact that it has been submitted to the Advance Health Care Directive Registry. An attending physician who is so notified shall promptly make the advance directive or a copy of the advance directive, if written, or the fact of the advance directive, if oral, a part of the declarant's medical records.

In the event that any portion of an advance directive is invalid or illegal, such invalidity or illegality shall not affect the remaining provisions of the advance directive.

§54.1-2995. (For contingent effective date - see Editor's note) Filing of documents with the registry; regulations; fees.

A. A person may submit any of the following documents and the revocations of these documents to the Department of Health for filing in the Advance Health Care Directive Registry established pursuant to this article:

1. A health care power of attorney.

2. An advance directive created pursuant to Article 8 (§54.1-2981 et seq.) of this chapter or a subsequent act of the General Assembly.

3. A declaration of an anatomical gift made pursuant to the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (§32.1-291.1 et seq.).

B. Any document and any revocation of a document submitted for filing in the registry shall be notarized regardless of whether notarization is required for its validity. The document may be submitted for filing only by the person who executed the document, and shall be accompanied by any fee required by the Department of Health.

C. All data and information contained in the registry shall remain confidential and shall be exempt from the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§2.2-3700 et seq.).

D. The Board of Health shall promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of this article, which shall include, but not be limited to (i) a determination of who may access the registry, including physicians, other licensed health care providers, the declarant, and his legal representative or designee; (ii) a means of annually reminding registry users of which documents they have registered; and (iii) fees for filing a document with the registry. Such fees shall not exceed the direct costs associated with development and maintenance of the registry and with the education of the public about the availability of the registry, and shall be exempt from statewide indirect costs charged and collected by the Department of Accounts. No fee shall be charged for the filing of a document revoking any document previously filed with the registry.

2. That the Commissioner of Health, in cooperation with the Department for the Aging, the Department of Health Professions, the Bureau of Insurance, and the Virginia State Bar and with input from the Virginia State Office of the American Association of Retired Persons, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, Medical Society of Virginia, Virginia Health Care Association, Virginia Association of Nonprofit Homes for the Aging, Virginia Association of Home Care and Hospice, Virginia Association of Health Plans, and Virginia Association for Hospices and Palliative Care, shall develop and implement a plan for informing the public about the availability of the Advance Health Care Directive Registry.

3. That an emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.