The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Patient Partnerships (CPP) and LIFT Wisconsin launched a free online healthcare power-of-attorney tool, aiming to reduce legal and financial barriers that prevent Wisconsin residents from preparing for medical decision-making Oct 22.
Available through LIFT Wisconsin’s Legal Tune Up platform, the tool guides residents through creating power of attorney for healthcare (POAHC), a legal document allowing individuals to appoint someone to make medical decisions on their behalf if they become unable to do so themselves. Housed within UW-Madison’s Law School, CPP provides free advocacy and educational services to help patients navigate healthcare challenges, including insurance disputes, treatment access and medical decision-making.
Both organizations described the resource as the first of its kind nationally, combining legal information, document preparation and guidance on completing the process in one online platform. The initiative builds on CPP’s existing patient advocacy services, which provide free assistance to residents navigating healthcare-related challenges.
Jillian Shimabukuro, a legal fellow with the UW-Madison Law School and CPP who contributed to the tool’s research and development, said the project began with examining Wisconsin’s healthcare decision-making laws and how to communicate them to people unfamiliar with legal procedures.
Shimabukuro first became involved in the project as a graduate student assistant in spring 2025, conducting preliminary legal research alongside another student before returning to its development as a legal fellow. Her previous experience working with online legal resources in Chicago helped inspire her involvement in the project.
“The main thing was that it isn’t very, I mean, it is a free form, but it isn’t very accessible,” Shimabukuro said, referring to Wisconsin’s existing healthcare power-of-attorney documents. “A lot of times people will just give up before they even get started.”
Beginning in spring 2025, researchers worked to develop explanations of what a healthcare power of attorney does and how Wisconsinites could establish one. This process revealed misconceptions by the public about who can make medical decisions for patients unable to communicate their wishes.
Shimabukuro said many residents assumed their spouse or closest relative would automatically have the authority to make medical decisions if they became incapacitated, which wasn’t the case until recently in Wisconsin.
Until recent changes to state law, families without an appointed healthcare agent could face court proceedings to establish guardianship before making certain medical decisions. Although those changes have improved some protections, circumstances remain in which families may still need court intervention.
The research also identified difficulties with existing healthcare power-of-attorney documents. Although the Wisconsin Department of Health Services already offers free forms, their legal terminology and limited explanations can make them difficult to understand, particularly for residents without prior experience navigating legal paperwork, according to Shimabukuro.
“It’s very much like written in a way with a lot of legal jargon that is not clearly explained in how something works, and it can be really confusing and daunting,” Shimabukuro said.
The findings that Jillian, along with her team, established informed the development of a platform intended to guide residents through the process rather than simply provide another version of the existing form.
Enjoy what you’re reading? Get content from The Daily Cardinal delivered to your inbox
Unlike resources primarily designed to help attorneys prepare legal documents, the new tool was developed with the Wisconsin public in mind, offering plain-language definitions and explanations of situations in which a healthcare agent may need to act.
“I think a lot of the other ones, they kind of focus on making it as a tool for even just attorneys to use to do things quickly,” Jillian said. “But this is really meant for the consumer, the average consumer, to be able to understand quickly and thoroughly how these things work.”
The platform also provides instructions for making the document legally effective, including steps users must complete after preparing it. It offers guidance on sharing the document with the healthcare providers and others who may need to access during a medical emergency.
The tool is broadly meant for Wisconsin residents though it may be beneficial for groups unable to afford an attorney or intimidated by the legal process.
Beyond the financial burden of seeking legal assistance, Shimabukuro identified complicated legal terminology and the emotional difficulty of discussing serious illness, injury and potential incapacity as additional obstacles. By simplifying the process and making legal information freely available, developers hoped to ensure that neither financial resources nor familiarity with the law would determine who could prepare for future healthcare decisions.
“It shouldn’t be something that’s locked behind a paywell or even, like, an education wall,” Shimabukuro said.
However, the online resource may not address every circumstance. Jillian said developers recognized that some users could encounter questions or situations not anticipated by the platform, and CPP could provide additional guidance when needed.
“Obviously there’s going to be things that we could never anticipate,” Shimabukuro said. “But we’re hoping that in working with CPP, people would be able to ask those further questions and get them answered as well.”
CPP Executive Director Sarah Davis recounted a case in a press release in which the necessity of establishing healthcare decision-making authority was required quickly, but lengthy court proceedings made it difficult for care decisions.
Davis recalled a caregiver whose mother became unconscious following a stroke. Without a healthcare power of attorney, family members disagreed over treatment, leaving them to pursue court-appointed guardianship.
“This situation could have been avoided if the patient had created a Power of Attorney for Healthcare,” Davis said in the announcement.
The case underscores a central concern behind the initiative: without a designated healthcare agent, patients may lose control over who makes decisions on their behalf, while families are left navigating legal uncertainty during medical emergencies. By encouraging residents to establish that authority in advance, the tool aims to protect individual preferences while reducing the burden placed on loved ones when unexpected medical circumstances arise.
Beyond reducing legal complications, the tool aims to give patients greater control over who makes medical decisions on their behalf and to provide families with clearer guidance during medical emergencies.
Jillian said advance planning is relevant not only to people currently facing serious or prolonged illnesses but also to younger, otherwise healthy adults who may not anticipate becoming unable to communicate their wishes.
The platform includes guidance on circumstances that should prompt residents to create or update their healthcare power of attorney, such as a new diagnosis or declining health.
“If you can go ahead and do that in advance and in a way that you are in a safe environment to do that and think about those things, that is far more ideal than trying to do it on the fly when the situation comes up,” Jullian said.
With the tool now available, CPP plans to incorporate it into its existing advocacy work and expand outreach to residents who may benefit from the resource.
Jillian said increasing awareness will be important to ensuring the tool is used, rather than remaining an online resource residents do not know exists.
“There are plans to make sure that it is more visible,” Jillian said. “A lot of times, you know, the tool gets made and that’s kind of where it ends and people don’t really know that the tool is available.”
Although the organizations have not yet provided figures demonstrating the tool’s impact, its launch represents an effort to make advance healthcare planning more accessible to Wisconsin residents who might otherwise delay or avoid completing the necessary documents.
The initiative also reflects a broader shift toward addressing healthcare decisions before they become legal disputes, placing greater emphasis on preparation rather than intervention after a medical crisis.
The Daily Cardinal has been covering the University and Madison community since 1892. Please consider giving today.
Source: www.dailycardinal.com
