California Tests Electronic Database for End-Of-Life Wishes

Prompted by a state law that took effect this year, a coalition of emergency and social service providers is working to create an electronic registry for Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms so they will be available to first responders and medical providers when they are needed. The group is starting with a three-year pilot project in San Diego and Contra Costa counties that could serve as a model for a single, statewide registry. Paper-based POLST forms are used across the nation, but electronic registries exist only in a few states, including Oregon, New York and West Virginia.