After Mr. Kim suddenly suffered a stroke and fell into a vegetative state, the entire family was urgently called to the hospital to decide whether to continue life-sustaining treatment.

In the midst of grief, the family had to make a difficult decision—and when opinions are divided, it often leads to wasted time and money. This is a situation that could have been avoided if an Advance Health Care Directive had been prepared in advance.

Since no one knows what may happen tomorrow, legal documents concerning one’s health must be prepared while in good health. A Power of Attorney for Health Care is a legal document that allows someone you trust to make health and medical decisions on your behalf if you are unwilling or unable to do so yourself. This designated person, known as your agent, can consult with doctors and authorize critical procedures or medical actions on your behalf. It is important to appoint a spouse, child, or close friend who understands your personality, values, and religious beliefs.

If there are treatments you specifically do not wish to receive, these preferences can be documented in the Power of Attorney or communicated to your agent in advance. The Health Care Directive is a “statement of choice” that allows you to clearly express, through a written document, whether or not you want to receive life-sustaining treatment if you are determined to have no chance of recovery. You can include a timeline for withdrawing life support after a certain period, request that only pain relief be administered, or specify whether you wish to spend your final days at home or in the hospital. If this document is not prepared while you are healthy and you fall into a vegetative state, the hospital must obtain family consent under the Surrogate Act before stopping life-sustaining treatment.

If family members cannot reach an agreement, the issue may escalate into a legal battle, and medical expenses can exceed several thousand dollars per day during this process. Therefore, preparing a Health Care Directive in advance allows you to exercise your right to a dignified death while relieving your family of unnecessary financial and emotional burdens.

Another critical document to submit to the hospital is the HIPAA Authorization Form. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protects patient medical records. Without this form, even family members or your agent cannot access your medical records. This document authorizes only the individuals you designate to view your protected health information.

If this document is not prepared ahead of time, patients are often forced to sign hospital-provided forms in a hurry, which are usually written in favor of the hospital. There have been cases where a patient, unaware of the terms, signs a HIPAA document in an ambulance on the way to the emergency room. In one instance, a patient died due to a hospital error during emergency treatment, but the family lost a lawsuit because the patient had signed a hospital HIPAA form waiving the right to hold the hospital accountable for any accidents during emergency care.

To prevent such outcomes, it is important to prepare these documents in advance with a professional, while you are healthy.