New Approaches to End-of-Life Care in Hospitals

But he has some reservations about the concept. “My problem with all these documents is that it seems like it's a step backwards [because] doctors are deciding these things in the hospital [rather than] patients having the authority to make these decisions. On the other hand, if patients make these decisions and they're never honored, we haven't achieved a whole lot.”

The proponents of POLST, he added, say that they “lead to the discussions between the health care provider, the families, and the patients that allow for the physician order that actually will be carried out in the hospital, so ultimately they're more effective than just having the advance directive on the front of the chart.”