Alternative to Advance Directive Gaining Popularity

An alternative to an advance directive has emerged in recent years and is being developed in 32 states. The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is a standardized medical order form that gives explicit instructions for making decisions about an individual’s care rather than the general guidance offered by an advance directive.

The POLST form asks individuals if they want to receive CPR, hospitalization, antibiotics, mechanical ventilation, intubation, ICU care, and other specific treatments. The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published a study showing that patients with POLST forms were more likely to receive the treatment they wanted than patients with advance directives.

See New Approach Reduces Unwanted Medical Treatments at End of Life, ElderLawAnswers, July 6, 2010.