Kathleen Billingsley, RN

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• Kathleen Billingsley, RN
• Deputy Director
• Center for Health Care Quality

Putting POLST into Action Conference
Sacramento, California
March 30, 2009
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Presentation Overview

• California Department of Public Health
• Center for Health Care Quality
• Licensing and Certification Program
• Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment
  (POLST) Form
  
• Questions and Answers

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California Department of Public Health
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(No Transcript)
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Center for Health Care Quality
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Center for Healthcare Quality

• Fosters secure delivery of safe, effective, and
  quality health care.
  
• Patient safety protection through
• Evaluation of facilities, agencies, and
  professionals for compliance with state and
  federal laws and regulations in order to license
  or certify them.
• Enforcement of quality standards in clinical
  laboratories, public health laboratories, blood
  banks, and tissue banks both in and outside
  California providing services to Californians.

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Licensing and Certification

• Licenses and certifies 30 different types of
  healthcare facilities and agencies.
  
• Focused on and committed to safe and effective
  delivery of quality healthcare.
  
• Licenses and monitors facilities and agencies.
• Field Operations Branch
• Over 600 dedicated surveyors in 19 district
  offices.
  
• Highly skilled and qualified Registered Nurses,
  Medical, Pharmaceutical and Nutritional
  Consultants.

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Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment
(POLST) Forms

• Assembly Bill 3000 (Chapter 266, Statutes of
  2008), amended Probate Code Sections 4780 4785.
  
  
• Established Physician Orders for Life Sustaining
  Treatment (POLST) forms to complement advance
  directives.
  
• Recognizes the importance of health care planning
  on an individuals treatment decisions should
  they become seriously ill or incapacitated.
  
• Became effective January 1, 2009.

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Licensing Certifications All Facility Letter
The POLST Form
Helps patients inform health care providers what
life-sustaining medical interventions and care a
patient would like to receive, in certain
situations. Provides patient with an additional
helpful statewide mechanism to disclose his or
her wishes. Does not affect any currently recog
nized advance health care directives.
Serves as an immediately actionable physicians
order consistent with patients wishes or best
interest, if unknown.
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Licensing Certifications All Facility Letter
The POLST Form

• Provides statutory immunity to a healthcare
  provider who relies in good faith on the request
  and honors it.
  
• Allows an individual with capacity to, at any
  time, request alternative treatment to treatment
  ordered on the form and,
  
• Requires only that health care providers honor
  POLST orders.

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Questions and Answers