Earlier this month, Governor David Paterson signed a law that extended the Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) community pilot, a New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) initiative aimed at improving the communication of personal end-of-life wishes about life-sustaining treatment.
Designed by Dr. Patricia Bomba, Vice President and Medical Director of Geriatrics at Excellus, the MOLST form is a pink, enhanced physician order sheet; an alternative to the “do-not-resuscitate” form.
“It is much more specific than anything in the past,” Dr. Alan Roth, Chief of Palliative Care Services at Jamaica Hospital explained to the Queens Courier. “Mechanical breathing or circulation through CPR and ventilation was all that was previously addressed. The MOLST form covers feeding issues, antibiotics, comfort measures, aggressive treatment, and non-aggressive treatment.”
Monroe and Onondaga counties in upstate New York began using the MOLST form in 2006 when the pilot program began. After being introduced to the MOLST form, Dr. Alan Roth and Mr. Bruce Flanz, Vice President and COO of the MediSys Health Network, decided that the form was very detailed and would benefit the hospital’s palliative care patients. As a result, the MediSys Health Network—Brookdale, Flushing, and Jamaica Hospitals—were the first to exclusively use the MOLST form in the metropolitan area, an elective decision made before the form was mandated by law.
Because of the network’s involvement in bringing the new form to New York City, Mr. Flanz and Dr. Roth were featured in an educational video about the MOLST form last year. The video was distributed to healthcare professionals throughout the state.
The MediSys Health Network, along with the Hospital Association of New York State (HANYS) and the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), was also very instrumental getting statewide legislation to extend the bill to the entire state of New York.
