either:
     (a) an agent or guardian has not been appointed; or
     (b) an agent is not able, available, or willing to make decisions for an adult.
     (9) "Emergency medical services provider" means a person who is licensed, designated, or certified under Title 26, Chapter 8a, Utah Emergency Medical Services System Act.
     (10) "Generally accepted health care standards":
     (a) is defined only for the purpose of:
     (i) this chapter and does not define the standard of care for any other purpose under Utah law; and
     (ii) enabling health care providers to interpret the statutory form set forth in Section 75-2a-117; and
     (b) means the standard of care that justifies a provider in declining to provide life sustaining care because the proposed life sustaining care:
     (i) will not prevent or reduce the deterioration in the health or functional status of a person;
     (ii) will not prevent the impending death of a person; or
     (iii) will impose more burden on the person than any expected benefit to the person.
     (11) "Health care" means any care, treatment, service, or procedure to improve, maintain, diagnose, or otherwise affect a person's physical or mental condition.
     (12) "Health care decision":
     (a) means a decision about an adult's health care made by, or on behalf of, an adult, that is communicated to a health care provider;
     (b) includes:
     (i) selection and discharge of a health care provider and a health care facility;
     (ii) approval or disapproval of diagnostic tests, procedures, programs of medication, and orders not to resuscitate; and
     (iii) directions to provide, withhold, or withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration and all other forms of health care; and
     (c) does not include decisions about an adult's financial affairs or social interactions other than as indirectly affected by the health care decision.
     (13) "Health care decision making capacity" means an adult's ability to make an informed decision about receiving or refusing health care, including:
     (a) the ability to understand the nature, extent, or probable consequences of health status and health care alternatives;
     (b) the ability to make a rational evaluation of the burdens, risks, benefits, and alternatives of accepting or rejecting health care; and
     (c) the ability to communicate a decision.
     (14) "Health care facility" means:
     (a) a health care facility as defined in Title 26, Chapter 21, Health Care Facility Licensing and Inspection Act; and
     (b) private offices of physicians, dentists, and other health care providers licensed to provide health care under Title 58, Occupations and Professions.
     (15) "Health care provider" is as defined in Section 78B-3-403, except that it does not include an emergency medical services provider.
     (16) (a) "Life sustaining care" means any medical intervention, including procedures,

administration of medication, or use of a medical device, that maintains life by sustaining, restoring, or supplanting a vital function.
     (b) "Life sustaining care" does not include care provided for the purpose of keeping a person comfortable.
     (17) "Life with dignity order" means an order, designated by the Department of Health under Section 75-2a-106(5)(a), that gives direction to health care providers, health care facilities, and emergency medical services providers regarding the specific health care decisions of the person to whom the order relates.
     (18) "Minor" means a person who:
     (a) is under 18 years of age; and
     (b) is not an emancipated minor.
     (19) "Physician" means a physician and surgeon or osteopathic surgeon licensed under Title 58, Chapter 67, Utah Medical Practice Act or Chapter 68, Utah Osteopathic Medical Practice Act.
     (20) "Physician assistant" means a person licensed as a physician assistant under Title 58, Chapter 70a, Physician Assistant Act.
     (21) "Reasonably available" means:
     (a) readily able to be contacted without undue effort; and
     (b) willing and able to act in a timely manner considering the urgency of the circumstances.
     (22) "Substituted judgment" means the standard to be applied by a surrogate when making a health care decision for an adult who previously had the capacity to make health care decisions, which requires the surrogate to consider:
     (a) specific preferences expressed by the adult:
     (i) when the adult had the capacity to make health care decisions; and
     (ii) at the time the decision is being made;
     (b) the surrogate's understanding of the adult's health care preferences;
     (c) the surrogate's understanding of what the adult would have wanted under the circumstances; and
     (d) to the extent that the preferences described in Subsections (22)(a) through (c) are unknown, the best interest of the adult.
     (23) "Surrogate" means a health care decision maker who is:
     (a) an appointed agent;
     (b) a default surrogate under the provisions of Section 75-2a-108; or
     (c) a guardian.

Amended by Chapter 99, 2009 General Session
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