NEW YORK--Choice In Dying is offering a new service that electronically stores advance directives (living wills and health care proxies). The service provides instant access to these documents with one phone call, thus avoiding the search for documents at a critical time, as, for example, when a patient becomes unconscious or unable to speak for himself.
Choice In Dying is a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering communication about complex end-of-life decisions among individuals, their loved ones, and health care professionals, and to serving the needs of dying patients and their families. The organization invented the living will in 1967 and has distributed more than 10 million living wills since that time.
The service, DocuDIAL Advance Directives Registry, provides a wallet-sized card containing instructions for family members and health care providers on how to retrieve the documents by fax. The service is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. People can enroll by calling 1-800-989-WILL (9455). The one-time registration fee is $55 ($45 for members of Choice In Dying).
Applicants send photocopies of their documents, which are then reviewed to make sure they meet the applicant's state legal requirements and have been properly signed and witnessed. The service will notify registrants of changes in their state laws if these occur.
