Study Shows Successful Tool for Ensuring Preferred End-Of-Life Treatment
Posted: Friday, July 16, 2010
A study published in the July 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society shows that use of a medical order form signed by physicians called Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) was much more successful than DNR orders alone in ensuring that individuals receive the care they want at end-of-life. Patients can use the POLST form to specify whether or not they want to receive CPR, hospitalization, a feeding tube or treatment with antibiotics. According to Kaiser Health News, “the study found that people with POLST forms who said they wished to receive care primarily for pain relief were 59 percent less likely to receive unwanted treatments than those with only a "Do Not Resuscitate" order.”
To learn more and see an example of a POLST form, see the Kaiser Health News article.