Mobile Physician Associates has helped thousands of patients with their Advance Care Planning. Advance care planning is the process where you make the difficult decisions about end-of-life treatment, and the healthcare measures you might want to receive if you’re facing a medical crisis.
Many people think of this subject as just whether to have a “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) order in place. In reality, there’s much more to this subject, and working it through with your doctor is invaluable to you, and to your family, when these difficult times come in the future.
These are your decisions to make based on your personal values, preferences, and discussions with your loved ones. These decisions can affect people of all ages but most often the elderly. Considering these decisions ahead of time, and then letting both your family and your healthcare providers know about your preferences is key to successful advance care planning.
Mobile Physician Associates assists patients in creating what’s called an Advance Directive and POLST form without the need of a lawyer which can save time and money, and it’s even covered by Medicare, because it’s such a crucial process, and leads to so much peace of mind in stressful times.
An Advance Directive is a legal document that goes into effect only if you are incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself, and helps others know what type of medical care you do, and also don’t want.
A POLST (Physician’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) fixes the problems some seriously ill or frail people have with advance directives and Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) orders. The POLST is part of Advance Care Planning and it involves a direct and specific talk with your medical provider about your medical conditions, treatment options, and exactly what you want.
Sometimes decisions must be made about the use of emergency treatments to keep you alive. Doctors can use several artificial or mechanical ways to try to do this. Decisions that might come up at this time relate to CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), ventilator use, artificial nutrition (tube feeding), artificial hydration (IV, or intravenous, fluids), and comfort care. Advance Care Planning addresses these treatments, and exactly how, if, and when you might want them for your own care.