Arch Intern Med
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Hospitalization presents an opportunity for physicians to discuss advance directives with patients and to encourage completion of health care proxies. ⋯ Institutional interventions can facilitate attending physicians' documentation of treatment-specific directives about life-sustaining care for most medical inpatients. More research is needed to confirm the effect of these efforts on quality and cost of hospital care, patients' autonomy, and their eventual execution of durable directives and proxies.