Representation Agreements and the Nidus eRegistry
The Financialist • Issue 84 • October 2004
BY DAVID CHALMERS
Imagine the following scenario: You are by yourself, out on the town, when suddenly you suffer a heart attack. You are rushed (unconscious) to the hospital. A quick decision has to be made on whether to perform emergency surgery.
At this point, the hospital will act in accordance with the Health Care Consent Law. Hospital staff will try to contact family members in a pre-determined order so that someone may consent to the surgery. The person who ultimately makes a life and death decision on your behalf may not have been your first choice.
While you may have granted a Power of Attorney that empowers a trusted relative to deal with your finances during your incapacity, this has not granted anyone the power to make health care decisions on your behalf.
The solution to this problem may be to enter into a Representation Agreement (RA). This is a legal document that empowers your chosen Representative(s) to make health care and personal care decisions on your behalf.
Your Rogers Group Advisor can provide you with information about Representation Agreements. You will need a lawyer to draw up an Agreement for you. Alternatively, there is a wonderful organization called the “Representation Agreement Resource Centre” (RARC) that provides very helpful and complimentary information about RAs. You can visit their website at www.rarc.ca, or call them at 604 408-7414.
Now let’s go back to our (unpleasant) hospital scene. You are lying unconscious in the emergency ward. Let’s assume that you have entered into a Representation Agreement and have appointed your daughter (who is a physician) as your Representative (a good choice).
The problem is that the hospital staff does not know that you have entered into this agreement and, thus, they don’t know who to call.
This is where the Nidus eRegistry comes in. The RARC provides a facility whereby you can register the details of your Representation Agreement on a secure website registry for a very modest cost. The hospital is one of a very few entities that has access to the eRegistry information. Upon your arrival, hospital staff check to see if there is a record for you. They find important details of your Representation Agreement, including the emergency pager number of your daughter.
Congratulations. The combination of a Representation Agreement and the Nidus eRegistry may have just saved your life.
While the scenario above is a bit dramatic, most of us will, at some point, need to rely on another person to make health care or personal care decisions for us.
A Representation Agreement ensures that these decisions will always be made by the most appropriate individual with all of our wishes respected and clearly communicated. The Nidus eRegistry ensures health care providers are always aware of who to contact in an emergency.
If you’re interested in learning more about Representation Agreements, or about the Nidus eRegistry, please call our office.