End-of-life planning now in MedChart

TORONTO – MedChart announced that it is partnering with BestEndings.com for patient-centered end of life content. This will allow patients to create digital Advanced Directives within their MedChart portal and share them electronically with their entire circle of care. In this way, access to expressed wishes is readily available when end-of-life care is needed.

We live in a society where 8 out of 10 Canadians have never heard of Advanced Care Planning or creating Advanced Directives and 50% of us do not know our loved one’s advanced wishes. MedChart will begin to shift the tide on this important issue by providing resources for families and caregivers to engage in conversation about Advanced Directives through its partnership with BestEndings.

“The partnership with MedChart is an alignment of philosophies and mandates: facilitating patient engagement and empowerment,” said Kathy Kastner (pictured), CEO of BestEndings.com.

“We are very excited to add BestEnding educational content and Digital Advance Directives,” said James Bateman, CEO and Co-Founder of MedChart. “Adding this content and digital Advance Directive is in line with our strategy to empower patients as the center of their own care. This will help support doctors in their end of life conversations and complement the medical records already available through MedChart. The partnership will also see Kathy augmenting MedChart’s on-site educational support.”

Created from the patient perspective to fill a major gap in end-of-life knowledge, BestEndings helps the elderly and chronically ill have a more peaceful, dignified end of life.

BestEndings helps people become more informed to make end-of-life decisions through online access to evidence based educational resources, videos, decision aids and digital Advanced Directive planning tools. BestEndings empowers patients to express their Advanced Directives through a 10-question interactive tool to create a personalized living will based on the medical and personal decisions of the individual. Shared access to this information through a person’s MedChart will help reduce unnecessary physical, emotional, and spiritual pain during end-of-life while reducing emotional burden on the family allowing them to focus on quality of life and comfort care.

“Advance Directives offer a unique opportunity for empowerment: to control medical care at end of life, even if a patient can’t actually be in control,” said Kastner. “However, studies show that most people get their knowledge of end of life medical decisions from television. With BestEndings.com learner-led education, the patient is able to create a more realistic and meaningful, personalized Advance Directive.”

BestEndings.com/MedChart partnership also overcomes the main barriers to honouring Advance Directives: often, substitute decisions-maker(s) are neither aware they’ve been ‘assigned’ the role nor have they seen the patient’s Advance Directive.

MedChart’s sharing capabilities solve this obstacle. The other barrier is accessibility: Advance Directives are rarely on-hand at time of need. MedChart’s 24/7 accessiblity removes that obstacle.

Equally important, with BestEndings.com Advance Directive integrated into the patient’s MedChart, end of life wishes are seen in the context of patient-specific health – even for healthcare professionals not familiar with the patient’s health history.”

About Kathy Kastner

Kathy Kastner is recognized as a leading patient voice on person- centered end of life communication. Her TEDtalk:Exit Laughing is regularly included in medical residents required viewing. As founder and CEO of BestEndings.com, she includes evidence-based research, interviews with key opinion leaders and strategies to help navigate end of life issues. For more information, please visit www.BestEndings.com.

About MedChart

MedChart (www.medchart.ca) is empowering individuals to acquire, manage and share their medical information online across North America. We are transforming the healthcare system by placing patients at the centre, lowering barriers for patient-access to information, and providing a transformative approach to universal health data interoperability. An intuitive online Patient Portal makes accessing and managing medical records as simple and secure as online banking. Critical information is personalized on the patient dashboard and medical information is easily and securely shared online among family members, doctors and caregivers within the patient’s circle of care. For further information contact: contact@medchart.ca or 1-888-399-7789