POLST

POLST is an approach to improving end-of-life care in the United States, encouraging providers to speak with the severely ill and create specific medical orders to be honored by health care workers during a medical crisis. POLST began in Oregon in 1991 and currently exists in 46 states; some of the 46 states have the program in development. The POLST document is a standardized, portable, brightly colored single page medical order that documents a conversation between a provider and an individual with a serious illness or frailty towards the end of life. A POLST form allows emergency medical services to provide treatment that the individual prefers before possibly transporting he or she to an emergency facility. The POLST form is a medical order which means that the POLST form is always signed by a medical professional and, depending upon the state, the person stated on the form can sign as well.

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