What Docubank does

DocuBank, operated by Advance Choice, Inc. and founded in 1993 in Pennsylvania, is a subscription-based electronic registry and emergency-retrieval service for healthcare directives and related personal documents. Its core offering is 24/7 storage and delivery of advance healthcare directives (living will, healthcare power of attorney, HIPAA release, organ donation authorization) and critical medical information (allergies, conditions, medications, hospitalization history, vaccinations). Members authenticate to retrieve their documents via a wallet-sized Emergency Access Card carrying a member number and PIN, a phone line (800-DOCUBANK), or a web portal (getdirectives.com), with delivery by fax, download, print, or email. The platform is built on a proprietary password-protected database with member-number/PIN authentication; no public API, SDK, or AI/ML capability is disclosed.

The product surface has been extended over time to include DocuBank SAFE (an online vault for estate plan documents, trusts, deeds, and financial information), My Medical Snapshot (structured medical information storage), Family Alerts (opt-in notifications to emergency contacts when a card is used), and three Family Services sub-brands — Minors Matter (shared-custody/caregiver scenarios), DocuBank ICE (college-age members), and SNAP (adults with special needs). Healthcare providers — hospitals, nurses, and physicians — access the service at no cost to retrieve patient directives, and DocuBank markets free memberships to clinical staff as a network-awareness channel.

DocuBank generates revenue through individual membership subscriptions priced at $65 for 1-year, $150 for 3-year, and $235 for 5-year terms, with auto-renewal discounts and prorated refunds for deceased members. The company distributes through direct-to-consumer enrollment (website and phone) and a channel-partner model in which thousands of estate planning attorneys enroll clients as part of their practice workflow, supported by integrations with estate planning software platforms (WealthCounsel, InterActive Legal, Beyond Counsel, Practice42) and affiliate relationships with organizations such as AAEPA, Lawyers with Purpose, NAELA, NAEPC, and LCPLFA. Since founding, the company reports 400,000+ enrolled members, 3,000+ estate planning professional partners, and approximately 300 document retrieval requests fulfilled per month.

Name

Docubank

Legal name

Advance Choice, Inc.

Website

https://docubank.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

DocuBank is a subscription-based electronic registry founded in 1993 that stores and delivers healthcare directives and medical information 24/7 to members and healthcare providers, distributed directly to consumers and via a network of estate planning attorney partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advance Care Planning Registry

akta.pro primary industry

Consent, Preference & Data Rights Management (incl. HIPAA/GDPR support) (HLACAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

De-identification, Tokenization & Privacy-Preserving Data Platforms (HLACAIAK)

Keywords

• Healthcare directive storage
• Advance care registry
• Medical emergency access
• Estate planning services
• Living will delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

Narberth

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership Subscriptions: DocuBank generates revenue through annual and multi-year subscription memberships. Members pay upfront for 1, 3, or 5-year terms. Annual memberships offer automatic renewal with a $5 discount. The service provides 24/7 access to healthcare directives, emergency cards, and secure document storage. Physical document retrieval incurs a $40 fee per member. Replacement cards are provided free of charge.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

DocuBank stores members' advance healthcare directives (living wills, healthcare power of attorney, HIPAA releases, organ donation authorizations) and critical medical information in a secure, 24/7 accessible database. Members carry a wallet-sized Emergency Access Card with a member number and PIN that healthcare providers use to instantly retrieve directives by phone (800-DOCUBANK), fax, or the web portal (getdirectives.com). Founded in 1993, DocuBank is the first and largest national electronic registry for healthcare directives in the United States.

Product overview

DocuBank operates as a unified healthcare directive management platform built around a core service with integrated supplementary features. The primary offering is the DocuBank Core Service, which provides 24/7 storage and delivery of healthcare directives (living will, healthcare power of attorney, HIPAA release, organ donation authorization) accessible via an Emergency Access Card, phone, or website. This core service is augmented by DocuBank SAFE, an online vault for broader estate planning documents. The platform also includes family-oriented sub-brands—Minors Matter for minors in shared care situations, DocuBank ICE for college-age members, and SNAP for special needs adults—all built on the same infrastructure but tailored to specific demographic needs. Supporting features include My Medical Snapshot for organizing detailed medical information and Family Alerts for notifying emergency contacts when cards are used. The DocuBank enrollment form is integrated into most estate planning software for seamless client onboarding through partner attorneys.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Minors Matter: Service designed to provide information caregivers need for minors in shared custody, camps, daycare, grandparent care and other shared care situations. Includes 2 cards to pass on to caregivers, alerts to parents when card is used, medical info, form storage.
• DocuBank ICE
• SNAP
• DocuBank SAFE

Products and services

• DocuBank Core Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• Healthcare directives are not accessible in 74% of cases when needed in hospitals according to Journal of the American Medical Association study
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerExclusive national membership organization serving attorneys in estate planning, elder law, and financial services. AAEPA fosters excellence in planning among members. Members receive discounts and special offers from DocuBank.
• WealthCounselcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerState-of-the-art drafting software and workflow solutions, practice-building coaching programs, legal content marketing services, and nationwide community of estate planning attorneys. Provides integration with DocuBank enrollment.
• Lawyers with PurposecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMembership organization for attorneys practicing in estate planning, elder law, Medicaid planning, asset protection, Special Needs planning, and VA Benefits. Offers DocuBank as member benefit.
• New Law Business ModelminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFounded in 2011 by Ali Katz, serves 500+ lawyers licensed as Personal Family Lawyer (PFL) firms across the US. Provides coaching, mentoring, and practice development with DocuBank integration.
• National Network of Estate Planning AttorneysminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCooperative alliance of nationally recognized estate planning attorneys providing support and tools to serve clients better while building successful practices.
• Ultimate Estate PlannerminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProvides technical and marketing products for estate planning professionals including attorneys, financial advisors, CPAs, and life insurance agents to build practices.
• National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerNon-profit association providing information, education, networking, and assistance for legal services to the elderly and people with special needs.
• Life Care Planning Law Firms Association (LCPLFA)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerNational network of holistic law practices offering legal services, care coordination, and advocacy support for elderly clients and families.
• NAEPC (National Association of Estate Planners and Councils)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerNational organization of professional estate planners and affiliated Estate Planning Councils focused on establishing and monitoring professional and educational standards.
• The 5Q GroupminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFinancial marketing company recognized by Selling Power magazine as one of America's 15 Most Successful Sales Forces.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Aging with Dignity (Five Wishes): Aging with Dignity distributes the Five Wishes advance directive document, the most widely used advance care planning form in the US. It directly competes with DocuBank in helping consumers create and store living wills and healthcare power of attorney documents, with overlap in the same target demographic of older adults completing estate plans.
• MyDirectives: MyDirectives is a digital advance care planning platform that lets users create, store, and share advance directives and medical wishes electronically with healthcare providers. It is a direct competitor to DocuBank in the digital storage and retrieval of healthcare directives for use during medical emergencies.
• Cake: Cake is a consumer-facing end-of-life planning platform offering free tools to create wills, advance directives, and estate planning documents online. It competes with DocuBank on the consumer side of advance directive creation, though it offers broader end-of-life content and lacks the 24/7 provider retrieval service.
• Everplans: Everplans provides digital estate planning tools covering advance directives, wills, and end-of-life organization. It is comparable to DocuBank in helping consumers organize and access critical healthcare and legal documents, with overlap in the estate planning professional channel and digital vault functionality.
• US Legal Wills: US Legal Wills offers online will creation and advance healthcare directive templates with optional long-term storage and document delivery. It is comparable to DocuBank as an online advance directive product with consumer-facing storage, though without the 24/7 provider retrieval card infrastructure.

Emerging players

• FreeWill: FreeWill is a free online will-writing platform that has rapidly scaled through partnerships with nonprofits and financial institutions and includes advance directive functionality. It overlaps with DocuBank on advance directives but differentiates via a freemium model and institutional/nonprofit channel partnerships rather than estate planning attorneys.
• Trust & Will: Trust & Will is a venture-backed online estate planning platform offering wills, trusts, and healthcare directives as a direct-to-consumer subscription. It competes with DocuBank on the advance directive product line but operates with a modern tech stack and broader financial services partnerships.
• Wealth.com: Wealth.com is an estate planning technology platform for financial advisors and estate attorneys, providing drafting, document storage, and client collaboration tools. It overlaps with DocuBank's estate planning professional channel and SAFE vault offering, though its primary buyer is financial advisors rather than consumers.
• Vital Decisions: Vital Decisions is a healthcare company that works with health plans and providers to support patients in documenting and honoring their end-of-life care wishes. It overlaps with DocuBank in advance care planning but is institutionally focused, working with payers and providers rather than consumers or estate planners directly.

Regional players

• CaringInfo (NHPCO): CaringInfo is a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization providing free advance directive forms and state-specific healthcare planning resources. It is comparable to DocuBank in advancing advance care planning but operates as a nonprofit resource rather than a subscription-based commercial service.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/docubank

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Docubank