Pennsylvania Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)
Last Updated: 6/14/2011
The Physician’s Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is a document designed for use by health care professionals through conversation with a patient and his or her family to summarize a patient’s treatment choices in the form of written medical orders about treatment goals for end-of-life care. It is designed to be used across health care settings, so that the wishes of the patient can be carried out in any setting, from hospital, to nursing home, to home health, or hospice care.
HAP convened an advisory committee of expert representatives from the medical, legal, and insurance communities; along with state agencies, health care providers, and other stakeholder groups to educate providers about the POLST document and to gain statewide recognition for its use in improving the quality of end-of-life care. This statewide recognition is now being supported by regional education sessions that will help health care professionals learn how to initiate and improve end-of-life care discussions to enable patient choices, as well as how best to complete and use the POLST form.
