Without a conversation about a person’s preferences for medical interventions, and a way to document them, patients can end up on a runaway medical train, undergoing ineffective, unwanted, painful, and expensive treatm
ents while their psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs are poorly addressed. To help patients have their say if they are unable to speak, CHCF has supported the use of Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). POLST is a standardized medical order form that indicates the specific types of life-sustaining treatment a seriously ill patient does or does not want according to a report at California Healthcare Foundation.
