Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 68 > Health > Chapter 11 > Part 18 - Tennessee Health Care Decisions Act

• Advance directive: means an individual instruction or a written statement relating to the subsequent provision of health care for the individual, including, but not limited to, a living will or a durable power of attorney for health care. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Agent: means an individual designated in an advance directive for health care to make a health care decision for the individual granting the power. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Capacity: means an individual's ability to understand the significant benefits, risks, and alternatives to proposed health care and to make and communicate a health care decision. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• Commissioner: means any person in office as a member of the public service commission, as prescribed by title 65, chapter 1, prior to June 30, 1996. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• County mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Designated physician: means a physician designated by an individual or the individual's agent, guardian, or surrogate, to have primary responsibility for the individual's health care or, in the absence of a designation or if the designated physician is not reasonably available, a physician who undertakes such responsibility. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• 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.
• Guardian: means a judicially appointed guardian or conservator having authority to make a health care decision for an individual. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Health care: means any care, treatment, service or procedure to maintain, diagnose, treat, or otherwise affect an individual's physical or mental condition, and includes medical care as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Health care decision: means consent, refusal of consent or withdrawal of consent to health care. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Health care institution: means a health care institution as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Health care provider: means a person who is licensed, certified or otherwise authorized or permitted by the laws of this state to administer health care in the ordinary course of business in practicing of a profession. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Individual instruction: means an individual's direction concerning a health care decision for the individual. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• 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.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Person: means an individual, corporation, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Personally informing: means a communication by any effective means from the patient directly to a health care provider. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Physician: means an individual authorized to practice medicine or osteopathy under title 63, chapter 6 or 9. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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}
• Power of attorney for health care: means the designation of an agent to make health care decisions for the individual granting the power. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Reasonably available: means readily able to be contacted without undue effort and willing and able to act in a timely manner considering the urgency of the patient's health care needs. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Surrogate: means an individual, other than a patient's agent or guardian, authorized under this part to make a health care decision for the patient. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Treating health care provider: means a health care provider who at the time is directly or indirectly involved in providing health care to the patient. See Tennessee Code 68-11-1802
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105