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Advance Care Planning

Helping you understand the options and prepare your advance directive & advance care planning documents.

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Advance Care Planning (ACP) is thinking and talking about future healthcare decisions long before a sudden, emergent event, like a car accident happens and you are unable to make your own decisions.

Having these conversations early allows you to provide clear guidance to the person you choose to make decisions for your when you cannot. The process includes:

  • Choosing who will make medical decisions for you if you are ever unable
  • Reflecting on what matters most to; Your goals and values, personal, cultural and spiritual beliefs and your past experiences that may shape how you make future medical decisions
  • Understanding possible future health care choices
  • Writing down and sharing your choices with those closest to you and all your doctors and facilities you seek treatment in a document called an Advance Directive.
Online workshops

Advance Care Planning workshops

Join us online for a free workshop about Advance Care Planning (ACP). Learn how to begin the planning process, how to choose a healthcare agent, and receive guidance on how to complete the required documents.

Workshop registration
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ACP documents and how to submit them

Select your state to download your ACP documents.

Download documents - Utah

Download documents - Idaho

Submitting completed documents

Advance Directive at Intermountain Healthcare
P.O. Box #571069 Murray, UT 84157

Download documents - Colorado

Download documents - Montana

Download documents - Wyoming

Submitting completed documents

  • Upload to your MyChart portal.
  • Bring a copy of your documents to your provider's office.

Purposeful and ongoing advance care planning gives you peace of mind that your wishes are known and is a comfort to those who make decisions for you.

Frequently asked questions

Learn more about regarding advance directives and Advance Care Planning.

Participating in Advance Care Planning gives you the opportunity to talk to your family or those closest to you, as well as your health care provider(s) about future medical care. After these discussions, your preferences can be written down and a trusted person identified to serve as your healthcare agent to make decisions for you if you are unable to do so. A written directive provides clarity and peace of mind, prepares your healthcare agent for the unexpected and avoids confusion when the time comes where you cannot make decisions for yourself.

The following individuals cannot serve as a witness

  • Anyone younger than 18 years old
  • The person named as the healthcare agent in the advance directive
  • Any person related by blood or marriage
  • Any person that may inherit from your estate
  • Any person responsible for your healthcare – financially or as a caregiver

  • Technical errors or gaps (i.e.: filling information out on the wrong line or in the wrong section)
  • Vague statements that are hard to interpret (i.e.: “Don’t use any tubes to keep me alive”, “I don’t want to be a vegetable”, “I don’t want any heroic measures”.)
  • Missing signatures and/or dates (date signed, date of birth, etc…)

If you become sick or injured and cannot communicate for yourself, health care providers will make treatment decisions based on what they believe are your best interests. This could include treatments that you might want or might not want. If you feel strongly about certain types of treatment that you would not want to receive, then an advance directive is a good way to communicate your preferences.

No. You can fill them out yourself. Once you have filled out the forms, all you have to do to make them legal is sign them in front of the proper witness. You do not need a notary public.

A POLST (Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment) is a medical order that healthcare workers, including EMS, can base their actions on. This portable medical order allows patients who are seriously ill or frail to voluntarily approach end of life planning in a way that honors and documents their wishes. It helps Emergency responders to have a quick and clear document to refer to without having to look through an entire Advance Directive.

A POLST does not replace an Advance Directive. They work together. If you have a POLST form, you should be sure your Advance Directive reflects your same choices for care. A completed and signed POLST form is highly recommended if you wish to be DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) or no cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Your documents should be posted in a visible place in your home, often on the refrigerator, near your phone or at the bedside of a person who is mostly bedbound.

Yes, these are your wishes. We suggest you consider the important role that culture, beliefs and values play in determining what you would want for future medical care and be sure to include this in your conversations and in your document.

We recommend you review and update your advance directive annually, or if one of the "four D's" occurs: Diagnosis, Deterioration, Divorce, or Death of a Healthcare Agent. You can change your mind anytime and update or revoke your Advance Directive. This is always about what you want. The critical thing to remember is to give your updated form to those with access to your previously completed documents (i.e., doctor, hospital, healthcare agent, family, etc.).

Healthcare providers are interested in honoring your wishes. They will make every effort to know and understand your wishes. There may be times when some of your preferences (i.e., music playing in the room, massage, essential oils, etc.) might not be possible.

All 50 states (and the District of Columbia) generally recognize the use of advance directives. When you travel, you should bring copies of your health care documents or take a picture on your phone to make them easily accessible if an accident or unexpected illness occurs.

  • Your primary care provider (such as your family doctor)
  • Any family members who may need to know how to contact your advocate in the event of an emergency
  • The individuals that you have chosen to be your successor advocate(s)
  • Your closest hospital (wherever you would go for emergencies)
  • Other medical facilities (such as hospitals or nursing homes) where you frequently receive treatment or upon being admitted for a major procedure, such as surgery.

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