Improving Advance Care Planning: Lessons from POLST

Cantor discusses the Lee et al study that suggests that it is possible for older, frail patients to express treatment preferences, and that for some treatments, Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms improve the odds that those preferences will be respected. Cantor argues that Lee et al did not answer the most interesting questions, including why some patients had their wishes followed while others did not.