POLST

A POLST is much more of a process than an event. It's a record of medical orders for what the patient wants today - Susan W Tolle MD

POLST
POLST

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How to Make Your Wishes for End-of-Life Care Clear

As acceptance of end-of-life planning grows in the U.S., new concerns are emerging about how well patients and their doctors understand the forms they are signing about the care they want in their final days.

In September, the Institute of Medicine’s “Dying in America” report called for a national effort to improve medical and social services for end-of-life care, both to improve quality of life and to help reduce the outsize costs of unwanted care at the end of life.

Some health plans are reimbursing doctors who help with advance care planning, and the federal government is weighing doing the same for doctors who talk to Medicare patients about options. A growing number…

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 How to Make Your Wishes for End-of-Life Care Clear

By offering clear documentation of patient wishes, Dr. Tolle says, Polst forms decrease the likelihood of overreliance on DNR orders, and are “the best way to honor patient preferences for or against life-sustaining treatments as they approach the end of life.”

National POLST Paradigm

The National POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) Paradigm is a conversation-based approach to end-of-life care planning in which health care professionals and patient together discuss that individual's goals and preferences for end-of-life care treatments, such as CPR or no CPR, intubation or no intubation, etc. The intent is to encourage shared, informed medical decision-making that honors a patient's wishes.

POLST California

California’s program for Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) has received the highest level of recognition from the National POLST Paradigm, which establishes and oversees national standards for POLST.

Compassion & Choices

The POLST and DNR are medical orders for individuals in ill health, whereas the advance directive can be created by any decisionally capable adult to express wishes regarding preferences in treatment at the end of life or in response to possible health events.

Death with Dignity

POLST is an innovative approach to ascertaining and communicating healthcare wishes, but it isn’t meant to replace traditional end-of-life care communication tools like advance directives or “no code” or DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) statuses. Instead, it augments and supports other communication tools. Whereas advance directives identify a surrogate decision-maker and provide guidelines and values underlying a patient’s wishes, POLSTs turn those wishes into medical actions ordered by a physician. The two are complementary in every sense.

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