New Study Linking End-of-Life Directives With Hospitalization Has Implications for California

A study released this month found that nursing home patients who participate in a program that lets them record their end-of-life treatment wishes are much more likely to get those wishes met.

The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment program, or POLST, allows patients to specify the type of end-of-life care they want. The study found that patients with a POLST were 59% less likely to get unwanted hospitalizations and medical interventions.

In a California Healthline Special Report by Mina Kim, researchers and geriatric experts discuss the study and its implications for California.

The Special Report includes comments from:

Kenneth Brummel-Smith, chair of the Department of Geriatrics at Florida State University College of Medicine;
Judy Citko, executive director of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California; and
Jeffrey Yee, chief of general medicine at Woodland Healthcare (Kim, California Healthline, 7/16).

The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as a PDF.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>New Study Linking End-of-Life Directives With Hospitalization Has Implications for California</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2010-07-16T00:00:00-07:00">
			July 16, 2010		</time>
		</div>
<p>A study released this month found that nursing home patients who participate in a program that lets them record their end-of-life treatment wishes are much more likely to get those wishes met.</p><p>The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment program, or POLST, allows patients to specify the type of end-of-life care they want. The study found that patients with a POLST were 59% less likely to get unwanted hospitalizations and medical interventions. </p><p>In a <i>California Healthline </i>Special Report by Mina Kim, researchers and geriatric experts discuss the study and its implications for California.</p><p>The Special Report includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Kenneth Brummel-Smith, chair of the Department of Geriatrics at Florida State University College of Medicine; </li><li>Judy Citko, executive director of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California; and </li><li>Jeffrey Yee, chief of general medicine at Woodland Healthcare (Kim,<i> California Healthline</i>, 7/16).</li></ul><p>The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as <a href="https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2010/07/chlspecialreporttranscript071610.pdf">a PDF</a>.</p><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><img src="https://ssl.google-analytics.com/collect?v=1&t=event&ec=Republish&tid=UA-72777370-1&z=1713286279743&cid=47e77f65-70ba-41a0-af08-02737591d709&ea=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fnew-study-linking-endoflife-directives-with-hospitalization-has-implications-for-california%2F&el=New%20Study%20Linking%20End-of-Life%20Directives%20With%20Hospitalization%20Has%20Implications%20for%20California"/>

Some elements may be removed from this article due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about available photos or other content, please contact khnweb@kff.org.