Advance Directives are More Important than Ever
“At the Academy’s recent Virtual Summit, I spoke, among other things, about the rising importance of your clients’ advance directives during this coronavirus crisis. Here is a piece of what I shared,” writes Randi Siegel in American Academy’s Client Services.
“Why have advance directives and access to them become more crucial during Covid-19?”
“Because the novel coronavirus is so contagious, your clients will be alone in the hospital if they have Covid-19, and may be alone even if they do not have Covid-19. (Hospitals need to protect visitors from contracting the virus and also from visitors potentially spreading the virus within the hospital.)”
“Without visitors, your clients’ family can’t talk with the doctors right away, in person. They can’t tell the doctor who is the health care agent, or provide any other pertinent medical information about the patient.”
“Without visitors, doctors can communicate with family only by phone and video chat. It can be hard for doctors to know the phone numbers for family members even if they do know whom they’re supposed to talk to.”
