• ED Manag. 2015 Jun 1;27(6):65-9.

AbstractA new study suggests there is a lack of consensus or understanding about what patients intend when they fill out Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms, and that this likely leads to patients either receiving or not receiving treatment contrary to their wishes. Investigators suggest more training on these issues is needed, and recommend that clinicians take the time to clarify choices during periods of critical illness. A new study found that when presented with a range of clinical scenarios coupled with POLST forms reflecting patient wishes, emergency providers did not often reach a consensus on what actions they would take. Researchers say that "do not resuscitate" orders are commonly misinterpreted to mean do not treat, and there are also practice and regional variations in how end-of-life-care documents are interpreted. While a national organization establishes POLST recommendations and sample policies, the documents themselves are established and regulated at the state level, along with training procedures. Experts recommend that hospitals establish quality control procedures to ensure that end-of-life-care documents are prepared and interpreted accurately.

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