Medical directives are often mistaken for medical power of attorneys, but there is a difference.<\/p>\n
For example, if you were in a car accident, the directive would help the doctors determine if you should be kept on life support. In the same scenario, if you had an assigned power of attorney, that person would make the decision on your behalf instead of the medical team.<\/p>\n
In short, a medical directive is a set of written instructions for critical health decisions and a medical POA is someone that makes the health decisions for you. When it comes to medical power of attorney vs advance directive, neither one is better than the other. It helps to have both in place should you ever need them.<\/p>\n