Advance directives provide answers for tough questions

Will advance directives provide an effective means of assuring that previously written decisions will be honored by health care providers if the patient becomes incompetent or terminally ill? This and other questions are posed in the following article. The Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 mandates that all health care providers receiving federal reimbursement for services provide information to each patient and offer the option of executing an advance directive for health care decisions. The author presents an overview of two studies about advance directives as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.