The term "advance medical directive" is a generic term that usually refers to just one kind of directive - a living will, a medical power of attorney, or a "do-not-attempt-resuscitation" order. The digital advance care plan that you create using MyDirectives incorporates all of the elements of a living will and a medical power of attorney, but it does much more than that. The digital advance care plan also includes an expression of your preferences on CPR that is similar to the instructions included in DNR/DNAR orders, as well as organ donation and autopsy preferences. The digital advance care plan also includes a My Thoughts section that lets you describe non-medical requests about more personal aspects of your care and comfort, and contact information for your doctors, insurance providers, family and friends that medical treatment providers may need to contact if there is a medical emergency. Finally, the digital advance care plan lets you to keep your answers simple or make them as detailed as you like by using open-ended text boxes or uploading audio and video files. All of these things combine to make the digital advance care plan a much higher quality document than a simple living will or any other standalone advance medical directive.
The most important difference between a digital advance care plan and an advance directive the process used to create it. First, MyDirectives is the only service that guides you through the process of creating a high-quality advance care plan using a flexible process that lets you give detailed answers and accurately express your medical treatment goals, preferences and priorities. MyDirectives informs and educates you along the way, and we built logic into our system that will lower your chances of providing ambiguous or conflicting answers, but MyDirectives will never "lead" you or pressure you into choosing (or foregoing) particular medical treatments.
The digital advance care plan is also different from an advance directive or a living will because it is created using a true digital healthcare platform. MyDirectives embraces modern technology and uses it to securely store your completed, signed digital advance care plan "in the cloud," and we work closely with healthcare providers, payers, and electronic medical record vendors to make your digital advance care plan available for retrieval 24 hours a day, seven days a week, anywhere in the world.
Most importantly, MyDirectives understands that advance care planning isn't just about a legal form with signatures, it is about conversations. Research shows that the only truly reliable strategy to ensure your medical treatment goals, preferences and priorities are considered if you ever suffer a health emergency and can't communicate is to discuss your values and wishes with your family, caregivers and healthcare providers ahead of time, before a crisis occurs. So, we make it easy for you to safely and securely share your digital advance care plan with whoever you want, we communicate with your chosen healthcare agents on your behalf, and we provide conversation starters and discussion guides to help facilitate those conversations.