Tag Archives: Advance Directive

Mark Your Calendars: National Healthcare Decisions Day is April 16th

A nationwide initiative to help Americans plan for serious illness and end-of-life care

Saturday, April 16, 2016, is National Healthcare Decisions Day, a nationwide initiative to educate and empower the American public to make and communicate decisions about their future healthcare needs. Marked by events at healthcare facilities and public venues across the … Continue reading

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Important Changes to California’s POLST Law

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can now sign end-of-life orders

As of Jan. 1, 2016, nurse practitioners and physician assistants acting under the supervision of a physician are authorized under California’s newly enacted Assembly Bill 637 to sign Physician’s Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment forms. Also known as POLST, the … Continue reading

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What Are Collaborative Doctor-Patient Relationships? An Interview with Dr. M. Grace Laurencin, Part Two

A primary care physician discusses the details of patient-centered care

Today, in the second part of a two-part interview (read part one here), SevenPonds spoke with Mercedes Grace Laurencin, M.D. M.P.H. about the interpersonal, social and psychological aspects of providing primary care as a physician. Her retainer medical practice, based in … Continue reading

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Americans Lacking in Advance Directives for End of Life Planning

Why do so few Americans have an advance directive when preparing for death?

Making end of life preparations will not only provide you with a death as dignified and uncomplicated as possible: it will also give your family peace of mind. A part of planning for our shared, inevitable fate of death means … Continue reading

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Get Informed: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment

POLST puts end-of-life healthcare directive decisions back in the patient's hands.

We’ve often visited on this blog the importance of Advanced Care Directives to ensure that patients are fully educated and empowered to make end-of-life healthcare decisions. Throughout the years, as the implications of orders like “Do Not Resuscitate” have confused … Continue reading

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What is Advance Directive? – An Interview with Judy Epstein

You already knew about the importance of filling out an advance directive; what about a POLST?

Dr. Judy Neall Epstein is a naturopathic physician and the Clinical Director of the Compassion & Choices End-of-Life Consultation Program. Dr. Epstein spent ten years in private practice before accepting her position at Compassion & Choices, where she works with … Continue reading

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