Software:MyDirectives

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Short description: Platform for advance care planning
MyDirectives
MyDirectives logo.png
Founded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Headquarters
Dallas, Texas
,
U.S.
OwnerADVault, Inc.
Founder(s)Jeff Zucker, Scott Brown
Key peopleJeff Zucker (CEO), Scott Brown (President)
Websitemydirectives.com

MyDirectives is the world's first all-digital advance care planning platform. Created by ADVault, Inc., the platform has users in 50 countries and is accessible at MyDirectives.com, the MyDirectives Mobile app and numerous co-branded partner sites.[1] Real-time access to advance care plans can help doctors and family members guide better, goal-concordant care in a health crisis.

MyDirectives lets people create, store, update and share the free MyDirectives digital advance care plan or upload any third-party digital or paper-based advance directive advance care plan or portable medical order document. Healthcare providers can access these directives as a module within electronic medical record systems. The service is free to consumers.[2]

MyDirectives is a service of ADVault, Inc., a privately held U.S. corporation. MyDirectives went live on the web in 2012 featuring the first all-digital advance care form called the Universal Advance Digital Directive. MyDirectives Mobile launched on iOS in 2015.

A user can update their advance care plan as circumstances or healthcare wishes change via MyDirectives.com and MyDirectives Mobile. The documents users create and upload can also be retrieved by doctors and healthcare professionals in case of emergency. The app makes a user's advance care plan accessible to healthcare providers even when an iPhone is locked, ensuring the user's voice can be heard even in case of emergency. MyDirectives also allows users to upload audio and video recordings conveying their wishes, which can then be seen by healthcare providers and loved ones.[3] Users can also identify healthcare agents who will act on their behalf in the event of a healthcare emergency. The platform's accessibility can help alleviate anxiety and ambiguity that may arise about questions surrounding an individual's wishes.[4]

MyDirectives.com offers conversation starters and guidance for users on how to discuss advance care planning wishes with family members. MyDirectives is free to consumers and healthcare providers. Health insurance companies pay to provide their beneficiaries the ability to create their directives.[5]

History

MyDirectives was founded in 2007 by Scott Brown and Jeff Zucker.[6] MyDirectives.com went live in 2012, and MyDirectives Mobile was launched in January 2015. Several major healthcare systems including Cerner, Humana, and Coordinated Care Oklahoma have partnered with MyDirectives as the chosen advance care plan platform for their members.[7][8]

The uADD

MyDirectives uses a proprietary universal advance digital directive (uADD) platform that combines a living will and medical power of attorney. Directives can also include additional wishes such as an individual's thoughts on resuscitation, organ donation, autopsy, and qualitative questions for caregiving. The uADD is legal in all U.S. states and in countries around the world and is designed to simplify over 200 advance health care directive forms used in Asia, Europe and North America.[9] It also gives users the ability to create audio and video messages to further communicate their desires for their care.[10] The uADD is designed to help doctors, nurses, caregivers and family members understand an individual's thoughts, goals, and wishes.

MyDirectives allows consumers to attach digital copies of paper-based advance health care directive forms, including the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST), Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST), Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) and other portable treatment orders.

Recognition

MyDirectives is the first medical directives platform to receive meaningful-use certification from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. AdVault Inc. is also a supporting organization of the Blue Button program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which promotes the use of downloadable personal health records.

MyDirectives has been endorsed by the Office of Clinical Ethics and Palliative Care at Baylor Health Care System and its director, Dr. Robert Fine,[11] Dr. Michael Wasserman, who served as chair of the American Geriatrics Society’s Managed Care Task Force,[12] and by former Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a heart and lung specialist.[13] Dr. Monica Williams-Murphy, a board certified emergency physician at the University of Alabama Hospital, where she also serves as the medical director of advance care planning and end of life education, called MyDirectives “a pioneer in enabling individuals to articulate our own medical choices.”[14]

PC Magazine listed MyDirectives as one of its "Top 100 Websites of 2013."[15] MedCity News included MyDirectives as one of 10 startups to offer an early look at 2014 trends.[16]

References

  1. "MyDirectives". MyDirectives. https://mydirectives.com/. 
  2. "Your End-of-Life 'Conversation'". ABC News. 2012-08-16. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/start-end-life-conversation/story?id=17015075. 
  3. Silverman (16 September 2014). "A place to store your end-of-life wishes". http://www.marketplace.org/2014/09/16/health-care/place-store-your-end-life-wishes. 
  4. Susan R. Dolan RN, JD The End of Life Advisor (2016-05-06). "How To Avoid A Family Feud At The End Of A Loved One's Life". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-r-dolan/end-of-life-discussion_b_9789304.html. 
  5. "End-of-life wishes absent in e-records". http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/end-of-life-instructions-ehr-114139#ixzz3ObqQBOPL. 
  6. "Innovation Excellence | The Impact of a Healthcare Innovator: Interview with Scott Brown". http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2013/09/08/the-impact-of-a-healthcare-innovator-interview-with-scott-brown/. 
  7. "Electronic records offer chance to ensure patients' end-of-life plans aren't lost in critical moments". 27 March 2016. http://www.phillyvoice.com/electronic-records-offer-chance-ensure-patients-end-life-plans-arent-lost-critical-moments/. 
  8. "Humana Inc. partners with advance care planning company ADVault Inc. for living will app - Louisville - Louisville Business First". http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2016/01/12/humana-wants-you-to-record-your-living-will-on.html. 
  9. "Dallas-Based Startup Wants to Be "Facebook of Advance Directives"". 2012-11-06. https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2012/11/dallas-based-startup-wants-to-be-facebook-of-advanced-directives/. 
  10. "New EHR Module for Advance Directives Certified for EHR Incentive Programs". http://www.bna.com/new-ehr-module-n12884909593/. 
  11. Fine, Robert (16 April 2012). "Robert Fine: Today reminds us all of the ultimate 'to do'". https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2012/04/16/robert-fine-today-reminds-us-all-of-the-ultimate-to-do/. 
  12. Wasserman, Michael (25 November 2014). "Thanksgiving a good time to talk about advance directives: Guest commentary". http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20141125/thanksgiving-a-good-time-to-talk-about-advance-directives-guest-commentary. 
  13. Ruyle, Megan (2013-12-17). "Digitize your own advanced-care plan". http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/193444-digitize-your-own-advanced-care-plan. 
  14. Williams-Murphy, Monica (23 December 2014). "End of life decisions: Start the conversation at the holidays: guest opinion". http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/12/start_the_conversation_at_the.html. 
  15. "The Top 100 Websites of 2013". https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428803,00.asp. 
  16. Combs, Veronica (2014-01-08). "10 startups in the December 2013 report offer early look at 2014 trends". http://medcitynews.com/2014/01/10-startups-last-report-2013-offer-early-look-2014-trends/.