Recent Publications

Advance Care Planning: Selected States' Efforts to Educate and Address Access Challenges was published on February 21, 2019 by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO report included Oregon as one of the four featured states with innovations showcasing the Oregon POLST Program and Oregon POLST Registry. Visit https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-19-231 to read the report.

"POLST Registration and Associated Outcomes Among Veterans With Advanced-Stage Lung Cancer" was recently published in AJHPM. The study looked at the association between registered POLST and the quality of end of life care. Within the VA, researchers found POLST submissions to the Oregon POLST Registry were low for those dying of lung cancer (22%). Of note, those with a POLST were more likely to be enrolled in hospice and less likely to die in a VA hospital. (Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2019 Jan 30, https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909118824543)

Time to Remove Feeding Tubes from POLST: GeriPal podcast with Drs. Susan Tolle and Elizabeth Eckstrom is available on SoundCloud. In a follow-up to the January JAGS article, Drs. Tolle and Eckstrom discuss in further detail why artificially administered nutrition was removed from the Oregon POLST form.

2019 DHS Provider Alerts

New EDIE Feature Sends POLST Notification

Patient Stories Now Available Online

Oregon POLST Registry 2018 Annual Report

Under the leadership of Abby Dotson, Director of the Oregon POLST Registry, the Registry has published the 2018 Annual Report. The report confirms widespread use of POLST in Oregon and the vital role the Registry plays in assuring POLST forms can be found in a crisis. More information about the Oregon POLST Registry can be found at www.orpolstregistry.org.

Upcoming Events

March 1, 2019: All-City Palliative Care Series. Craig Tanner, M.D., will present "The In-Hospital DNR: Can it do Harm?" at Adventist Health Portland. Click here for more information or visit www.ohsu.edu/ethics.  

March 2, 2019: Eastern Oregon EMS Conference in Pendleton, Oregon. Doug Kelly, Division Chief of the Redmond Fire & Rescue, will present "POLST for EMS." Visit www.easternoregonems.com for conference details.

March 5, 2019: Madeline Brill Nelson Speaker Series in Ethics Education. Anthony Back, M.D. and Katie Stowers, D.O., will present "Doing Better Together: Communication & Serious Illness" at OHSU. Click here for more information or visit www.ohsu.edu/ethics.

May 2, 2019: Forum on Aging in Rural Oregon in Lincoln City, Oregon. Susan Tolle, M.D. and Valerie Jimenez, will present "Empowering Advocates and Navigators to Facilitate POLST Discussions in
Their Community." Click here for conference details.

May 9, 2019: Susan Tolle, M.D., will present "POLST: When is the right time?" at Samaritan Evergreen Hospice in Albany, Oregon. This workshop is designed to enhance skills in supporting people as they become more ill and frail. Click here for registration details.