Two members of the POLST Illinois Committee recently collaborated with 10 other
organizations on the
Illinois POLST and Advance Directives Registry advisory
committee.
.
The committee, representing various stakeholders for POLST and end
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of
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life care issues, assisted the Illinois Department of Public Health in drafting a
report required under a law passed in 2018.
The report proposed necessary capabilities for a limited statewide registry of
POLST forms, described potential challenges to its feasibility, and suggested ways
to improve its viability. The committee and state agency concluded that a proposed
statewide registry for POLST forms is a feasible endeavor for Illinois if the state
initially limits registry capabilities and content to solely POLST forms and pursues a
public
-
private partnership to fund the registry using existing technology procured
from a third
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party vendor.
The committee recommended next steps to put
Illinois in the best position possible
to implement the statewide POLST registry, including further defining the system,
obtaining rough capital and operating cost estimates, and exploring partnerships
with external stakeholders to assist in running the system.
The IL Department of Public Health stated that developing the proposed statewide
registry will prove a challenge but one the state can overcome in collaboration with
the right partners.
In December 2019, members of the POLST Illinois Committee served on a multi – stakeholder advisory panel helping the Illinois Department of Public Health to
POLST Illinois & numerous healthcare provider groups are supporting new legislation sponsored by Senator Sara Feigenholtz of Chicago to improve the POLST program for the
Memorial Health System in Springfield launches a comprehensive POLST Train the Trainer Program for nursing homes in their service area , providing continuing education credit