The bright pink POLST form consists of medical orders that are based on a patient's medical condition and his/her treatment choices as established in a conversation between the patient or a legal medical decision-maker and a health care professional. The form travels with the patient across all care settings and helps doctors, nurses, healthcare facilities and emergency personnel honor patient wishes regarding life-sustaining treatments in emergency situations.
The POLST program encourages patients and their health care professionals to talk about the treatment patients want as they decline in health. Treatment choices can then be documented as medical orders on a bright pink form that follow patients across care settings.
More Information for Patients and FamiliesPOLST is a process that enables health care providers to facilitate good patient care. POLST provides a structure for conversations about end of life issues and patient preferences for treatment as the end of life nears. A completed POLST form turns those preferences into medical orders that follow patients across care settings.
More Information for Healthcare Professionals