Terms Used In New York Laws > Public Health > Article 29-C - Health Care Agents and Proxies

• Adult: means any person who is eighteen years of age or older, or is the parent of a child, or has married. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• agent: means an adult to whom authority to make health care decisions is delegated under a health care proxy. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Attending practitioner: means the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner, licensed or certified pursuant to title eight of the education law, selected by or assigned to a patient, who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Capacity to make health care decisions: means the ability to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of health care decisions, including the benefits and risks of and alternatives to any proposed health care, and to reach an informed decision. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Health care: means any treatment, service or procedure to diagnose or treat an individual's physical or mental condition. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Health care decision: means any decision to consent or refuse to consent to health care. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Health care provider: means an individual or facility licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized or permitted by law to administer health care in the ordinary course of business or professional practice. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Health care proxy: means a document delegating the authority to make health care decisions, executed in accordance with the requirements of this article. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Hospital: means a general hospital as defined in subdivision ten of section two thousand eight hundred one of this chapter and a residential health care facility as defined in subdivision three of section two thousand eight hundred one of this chapter, and a mental hygiene facility as defined in subdivision ten of this section and a hospice as defined in subdivision one of section four thousand two of this chapter. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Life-sustaining treatment: means any medical treatment or procedure without which the patient will die within a relatively short time, as determined by an attending practitioner to a reasonable degree of medical certainty. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Mental hygiene facility: means a residential facility, excluding family care homes, operated or licensed by the office of mental health or the office for people with developmental disabilities. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Mental illness: means a mental illness as defined in subdivision twenty of § 1. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Nurse practitioner: means a nurse practitioner certified under § 6910 of the education law, practicing within his or her scope of practice. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Principal: means a person who has executed a health care proxy. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Psychiatric nurse practitioner: means a nurse practitioner certified by the department of education as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Qualified psychiatrist: means , for the purposes of this article, a physician licensed to practice medicine in New York state who: (a) is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology or is eligible to be certified by that board; or (b) is certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and Psychiatry or is eligible to be certified by that board. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Reasonably available: means that a person to be contacted can be contacted with diligent efforts by an attending practitioner or another person acting on behalf of the attending practitioner or the hospital. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980
• Residential health care facility: means a residential health care facility as defined in subdivision three of section two thousand eight hundred one of this chapter. See N.Y. Public Health Law 2980