by David Stern

December 2002

Are you one of over twenty-four million Americans who already have an advanced directive or are you still struggling with the whether you need one or actually what one is?

If you are amongst the first group, congratulations, you’ve taken the initial step towards controlling your medical care. By executing a medical proxy, healthcare proxy or medical power of attorney, you will always know that medical decisions will be made by the person who understands your wishes, provided caregivers know who your agent is and how to contact him or her. 

However, most advanced directives are stored away in files, in desk drawers or even safe deposit boxes and are not available to physicians when most needed…in an emergency. It is estimated is that almost 170 million adults will visit emergency rooms in 2004. If the emergency department personnel do not have access to your medical proxy information, you have given up your ability to exercise control. Oops! Now what?
 medproxy.com is an Internet registry that permits the safe, secure, simple, affordable and private storage and retrieval of information about whom to contact regarding your healthcare treatment if you should be unable to make those decisions for yourself.  medproxy.com offers its members the peace of mind of knowing that their wishes will be respected even if they are incapacitated and unable to participate in treatment decisions.
By registering at  medproxy.com, in the event of an emergency, any accredited hospital will be able to access your proxy information, learn the identity of your agent(s) and how to contact them. In addition, whenever your proxy information is accessed by an accredited hospital, an e-mail will be sent to your proxy agent and alternate proxy agent with the hospital’s name, address and phone number.
There is an initial charge of $19.95 for registration, which allows members to update or change their own proxy information whenever they choose, at no additional cost. There is an annual charge of $4.95 for members under age 65. There is no annual charge for members over age 75.
medproxy.com is a member of online-registries’ suite of web-based services that also includes kidrecords.com and senior-records.com, allowing individuals and families to manage their personal medical information and to share that information within a preauthorized constituency of “need-to-know” individuals. Only subscribers can enter or alter their data; hospitals may access this data on a read-only basis.

What about those of you who do not have an advanced directive? To learn about advanced directives, should I have one, what does a proxy agent do, who should I appoint, where can I get a medical or healthcare proxy and a host of other questions, visit medproxy.com.
 

David Stern is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and the founder of online-registries, Inc., a family of Web-based healthcare sites that includes medproxy.com, senior-records.com and kidrecords.com. Visit www.online-registries or call (401) 841-5600