50-9-102. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
     (1) "Attending physician" means the physician selected by or assigned to the patient, who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient.
     (2) "Board" means the Montana state board of medical examiners.
     (3) "Declaration" means a document executed in accordance with the requirements of 50-9-103.
     (4) "Department" means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201.
     (5) "Emergency medical services personnel" means paid or volunteer firefighters, law enforcement officers, first responders, emergency medical technicians, or other emergency services personnel acting within the ordinary course of their professions.
     (6) "Health care provider" means a person who is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this state to administer health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession.
     (7) "Life-sustaining treatment" means any medical procedure or intervention that, when administered to a qualified patient, serves only to prolong the dying process.
     (8) "Living will protocol" means a locally developed, community-wide method or a standardized, statewide method developed by the department and approved by the board, of providing palliative care to and withholding life-sustaining treatment from a qualified patient under 50-9-202 by emergency medical service personnel.
     (9) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or any other legal or commercial entity.
     (10) "Physician" means an individual licensed under Title 37, chapter 3, to practice medicine in this state.
     (11) "Qualified patient" means a patient 18 years of age or older who has executed a declaration in accordance with this chapter and who has been determined by the attending physician to be in a terminal condition.
     (12) "Reliable documentation" means a standardized, statewide identification card or form or a necklace or bracelet of uniform design, adopted by a written, formal understanding of the local community emergency medical services agencies and licensed hospice and home health agencies, that signifies and certifies that a valid and current declaration is on file and that the individual is a qualified patient.
     (13) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
     (14) "Terminal condition" means an incurable or irreversible condition that, without the administration of life-sustaining treatment, will, in the opinion of the attending physician, result in death within a relatively short time.

     History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 369, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 475, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 391, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 102, Ch. 418, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 277, Ch. 546, L. 1995.