PA POLST Virtual Continuing Education Modules Now Available

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation and Coalition for Quality at the End of Life are pleased to announce the launch of a redesigned Pennsylvania Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) continuing education program.

The new POLST Learning Center features on-demand learning modules that provide a more convenient, accessible method for professionals to gain valuable skills in having end-of-life conversations. The POLST process is designed to ensure that seriously ill or very frail patients can choose the treatments they want or do not want and that their wishes are documented and honored across care settings and health systems. The training equips healthcare providers with tools to hold conversations with seriously ill patients and their loved ones about treatment options near the end of life and to document the patient's wishes on a POLST form, which communicates the patient's preferences when they cannot do so.

Until now, the only option for POLST education was in-person trainings. The new on-demand virtual curriculum enables providers to gain valuable skills in having POLST conversations when it is most convenient for them. Continuing medical education and continuing nursing education credits are available for the training modules.

This project was supported by a grant from the McElhattan Foundation to enhance access to POLST education and resources for healthcare providers and personnel throughout Pennsylvania, and it was developed in collaboration with a statewide POLST Curriculum Committee of experts from health systems, long-term care, palliative care, and emergency medicine, as well as Jewish Healthcare Foundation staff.

Modules cover the following topics:

• Introduction to POLST (2.5 CME or CNE credits)
• Overview of POLST and Advance Directives (1.5 CME or CNE credits)
• POLST Tools (0.5 CME or CNE credits)
• POLST Implementation (1.5 CME or CNE credits)
• Medicare Reimbursement for Advance Care Planning Discussions (0.5 CME or CNE credits)
• Carousel Cases (0.5 CME or CNE credits)
• Emergency Medical Services and POLST (0.5 CME or CNE credits)

Additional modules on POLST Conversations and Cultural Competency will be available soon.

These self-paced modules are now available in the new PA POLST Learning Center at www.papolst.org/learning-center.