Dana Zive and her team published an article on the ePOLST implementation at OHSU. During the six month pilot, the ePOLST tab on the OHSU patient header was clicked nearly 12,000 times and there were no form completion errors. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10916-016-0605-3
National POLST Paradigm Task Force Recommendations for Integrating POLST Forms with Electronic Health Records
The National POLST Paradigm Task Force has revised the Recommendations for Integrating Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Forms with Electronic Health Records. Read the approved recommendations here.
POLST 'Click' Survey Summary
Barbara Wade, Director of Quality of Improvement, Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, conducted a survey on the number of clicks it took hospitals for to find POLST forms within their health system EHR. Click view to view the survey results.
New POLST brochure that connects better with the public
The Oregon POLST Task Force approved a new POLST brochure for lay audiences. Earlier this year, we received feedback on the need for a greater patient voice in educational material. The Community Insight Committee was convened and tasked with advising the Oregon POLST Task Force as we expand the use of stories to educate the public about the role and relationship of POLST and advance directives. Click here to view the printable version.
Oregon POLST Task Force Approves Standard Language for Hospital Transfer Forms
The Oregon POLST Task Force has extensively reviewed the misperception by some that POLST orders were required in long-term care. The Task Force focused on two issues:
Facilities need to record code status
We do not want healthy patients transferred from acute care hospital to long-term care facilities being required to complete POLST forms to address the need of code status
The outcome was to create language that hospitals could integrate into hospital to facility transfer order sets. Click here to view the OPTF recommendation.
Erik Fromme, MD, MCR, FAAHPM, Brings His POLST Knowledge to Taiwan
Dr. Erik Fromme is a senior scholar in the OHSU Center for Ethics in Health Care and a regional and national leader in palliative care. In August, Dr. Fromme was invited by the Director General of the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan, to present at the Hua Lien Hospital Grand Rounds. Dr. Fromme's presentation was titled, "The evolution of hospice and palliative care in the U.S." Dr. Fromme learned that the Director General and other leadership used the Oregon POLST videos on YouTube for POLST education, and stated their POLST Program has been effective. Click here to see their POLST form.
Views of POLST Videos Continue to Grow
We've had continued success with the viewing of our POLST educational videos. The "Understanding POLST" video now has 8,000+ views on YouTube. The "POLST: Doing It Better" and "POLST: When Advance Directives Are Not Enough" both have over 5,500+ views. Many thousands more views have occurred at conferences, on hospice laptops, and behind firewalls on closed circuit TV.
Upcoming Events
October 14, 2016: All-City Palliative Care. Susan Hedlund, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C will present "Dire Decisions: Family Conflict at the End of Life." Click here to view the event flier.
November 18, 2016: Tillamook Regional Medical Center and the Center for Ethics in Health Care at OHSU
present Ethics, Law, and Professionalism in Serious Illness: Timely Conversations Near the End of Life. Drs. Gerald Gibbs and Susan Tolle will present “Advance Care Planning Conversations with Seriously Ill Patients Perspectives from Oncoolgoy and Primary Care Physicians." Click here to register and here to view the brochure.
