• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

POLST

Patient site | Professional site | COVID‑19 | Contact Us
  • POLST and ACP
    • POLST and Advance Care Planning (ACP)
    • Advance Directives
    • FAQs
  • POLST Form
    • POLST Form in Other Languages
  • Map
  • Resources
    • Policies
    • Resolutions
    • Technology
      • Technology Guide
      • POLST Registries
      • ePOLST and POLST in EHRs
    • Blog
    • Toolkits
      • Care Facilities Continuum
      • Quality Assurance Toolkits
    • Legal
      • Letters
    • Videos
      • Webinars
      • Patient Stories
      • POLST Education Videos
    • Research
    • Religion
    • COVID
    • Key Documents
    • Advocacy
  • News
    • News
    • Events
    • eNewsletter Archive
    • Press Releases
    • Media Resources
      • Basics
  • Who We Are
    • History
      • Founders Story
    • Leaders
      • Past Leaders
      • Honorees
    • Vision, Mission, Strategic Plan
    • Staff
    • Supporters
    • Logo/Brand
  • Donate
  • Forum

POLST for Health Care Professionals

What is POLST?

POLST has different names in different states. At the national level, it is simply called POLST: Portable Medical Orders, or POLST for short.

POLST:
Portable Medical Order
Legal documents
(advance directives, living wills, etc)
Purpose Provides specific medical orders when patient cannot communicate. Identifies surrogate decision-maker and provides general treatment wishes (not orders) for individual.
For Whom? Seriously ill and frail individuals
(view guidance)
All competent adults
Can Emergency Medical Services use? Yes No
Who complete/signs? Provider completes. Patient or surrogate signs. Individual completes and signs. Usually notarized.

Compare POLST medical orders and legal advance care planning documents in the above table.

What is National POLST?

National POLST is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization that organizes the effort to standardize the POLST process, form and education throughout the U.S., since POLST varies from state to state. Learn more about the history of POLST and National POLST and its name and logo.

Your state is likely helping set POLST standards by being part of National POLST. For information about what is happening with POLST specifically where you are, get in touch with the POLST leaders in your state. You can look up them up at our Directory of POLST Programs.

Download our 2-page overview of National POLST (PDF).


POLST Policies


National POLST Form


Maps


State Program Directory

Support for National POLST

The Institute of Medicine, now the National Academy of Medicine, encouraged all states to create a POLST program that meets national standards in their 2014 report. National POLST has also attracted the support of many organizations:

John A Hartford Foundation Logo

Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation Logo

Arthur Vining Davis Foundation Logo
California Health Care Foundation logo

Vynca Advance Care Planning logo

Archstone Foundation logo

The Research Retirement Foundation logo

Naveon logo

The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) logo

The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA) logo

Cambia Health Foundation logo

Cabot Cheese logo

Contact Us

  • 208 I Street NE
  • Washington DC 20002
  • (202) 780-8352
Comments? Questions? Email us.

Newsletter

Sign up for news from National POLST

Sign Up

Sign up to receive National POLST eNewsletters

The National POLST Office produces approximately 10 eNewsletters per year that include news about POLST, resources for POLST Programs, and the latest research on end-of-life issues.

View previous eNewsletters ยป

Comments or Questions? Email Us

By submitting this form, you are granting National POLST permission to email you. You may update your mail preferences or unsubscribe at any time. MailChimp's Privacy Policy.

Quick Links

  • Patient FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Media
  • Forum

Honoring the wishes of those with serious illness and frailty.

©2022 National POLST, a project of Tides Center
Privacy & Terms