Google Health to safeguard 'end-of-life' wishes

Google on Thursday invited people to store "end-of-life" wishes at its free online health records management service.

Google Health made available "advance directive" forms on which people can specify what they want doctors to do or not do in the event they are too ill or injured to express their wishes.

Forms created with collaboration from an organization specializing in elder care are available free for download online and can be customized to the laws in US states, according to Roni Zeiger and Julie Wilner of the Google Health team.

"An advance directive allows you to determine your end-of-life wishes so that your family and doctor can honor them if you get sick and are unable to communicate," Wilner and Zeiger said in a message at Google's official blog.

"The decision to sign an advance directive is an important and personal one, and Google Health now makes it a little bit easier."

Google Health recently added a feature that lets people upload scanned medical records to profiles for storage or selective sharing.

"We would like to reduce the unnecessary use of paper in patient care," Zeiger and Wilner wrote.

"We hope someday we'll move beyond paper, but until then Google Health can help you store your paper medical records electronically, including an advance directive, in one safe place," they wrote.

(c) 2009 AFP