For the purposes of this part, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) “Actively dying” means the phase of terminal illness when death is imminent.

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(b) “Disease-targeted treatment” means treatment directed at the underlying disease or condition that is intended to alter its natural history or progression, irrespective of whether or not a cure is a possibility.

(c) “Health care provider” means an attending physician and surgeon. It also means a nurse practitioner or physician assistant practicing in accordance with standardized procedures or protocols developed and approved by the supervising physician and surgeon and the nurse practitioner or physician assistant.

(d) “Hospice” means a specialized form of interdisciplinary health care that is designed to provide palliative care, alleviate the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual discomforts of an individual who is experiencing the last phases of life due to the existence of a terminal disease, and provide supportive care to the primary caregiver and the family of the hospice patient, and that meets all of the criteria specified in subdivision (b) of Section 1746.

(e) “Palliative care” means medical treatment, interdisciplinary care, or consultation provided to a patient or family members, or both, that has as its primary purpose the prevention of, or relief from, suffering and the enhancement of the quality of life, rather than treatment aimed at investigation and intervention for the purpose of cure or prolongation of life as described in subdivision (b) of Section 1339.31. In some cases, disease-targeted treatment may be used in palliative care.

(f) “Refusal or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment” means forgoing treatment or medical procedures that replace or support an essential bodily function, including, but not limited to, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, artificial nutrition and hydration, dialysis, and any other treatment or discontinuing any or all of those treatments after they have been used for a reasonable time.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 683, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2009.)