“Chronically ill patients across the nation are getting some help to make sure they receive consistent care in managing pain and other symptoms. To provide clarity about the individual’s wishes, there’s a medical form known as Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST. In Arizona, the form and new protocols are termed AzMOST, or Arizona Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment.
“POLST and AzMOST provide continuity of care across settings of care with a goal of increasing patient quality of life and improving patient satisfaction,” said Dawn Rivas, M.S., R.N., a doctoral student and an assistant clinical professor at Northern Arizona University’s School of Nursing.
Rivas and Emmalee Kennedy, M.D., the medical director of Northern Arizona Healthcare’s (NAH) Palliative Care Program, are currently members of the AzMOST task force and are working in conjunction with other state leaders to develop and implement a POLST/AzMOST program in Arizona. At present, Flagstaff Medical Center has a POLST pilot program, which is the only such program in the state. Meanwhile, other communities are looking into starting POLST pilot projects of their own…”
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