There are multiple steps to advance care planning:

• clarifying your current health status
• prioritizing your goals for care
• designating a surrogate decision maker (a health care agent or proxy)
• conveying your wishes to the nurses, doctors, and other health care providers caring for you, as well as to your health care proxy, often by using a form or another means (such as an audiotape, a videotape, a letter, or simply a physicians note in the medical record documenting the substance of a conversation).