Montana Title 50. Health and Safety § 50-5-1310. Patient designation of trusted decisionmaker as proxy--documentation by attending health care provider--limitations on other proxies

(1) At any time, after admission to a hospital, before an attending health care provider determines that an adult patient lacks decisional capacity under 50-5-1302, the patient may designate a trusted decisionmaker to make health care decisions on behalf of the patient in the event the patient does not have decisional capacity.

(3) After the patient designates a trusted decisionmaker, the attending health care provider shall immediately notify the patient's family of the designation and shall document the following information related to the designation in the patient's health record:

(4) When an individual is designated as a trusted decisionmaker under this section, an attending health care provider may not seek to select a lay proxy decisionmaker under 50-5-1303 or a medical proxy decisionmaker under 50-5-1304 unless the attending health care provider has made reasonable efforts to contact the trusted decisionmaker and the trusted decisionmaker cannot be contacted.

(5) A trusted decisionmaker is designated under this section, and the trusted decisionmaker remains in place until the patient completes an advance directive, completes a medical durable power of attorney, designates another trusted decisionmaker, or is discharged from the hospital.