Background: Documentation of code status is critical to goal-concordant care. Historically, documentation rates have been low due to time, the sensitive nature of discussions, and lack of experience. The COVID-19 pandemic, due to the risk of rapid decompensation and in-hospital mortality, created an urgent need for documentation of code status preferences among patients admitted to [...]

Background: The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form is an important tool to elicit and document patients’ treatment preferences in a way that is valid across health care settings. Studies on its efficacy have found high rates of consistency between patients’ treatment preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), medical interventions, and artificial nutrition documented on POLST [...]

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) informs future medical decision-making, particularly for hospitalized patients with older age or serious illness. The majority of end-of-life conversations are led by hospitalists in the inpatient setting. Despite the importance of ACP in end-of-life care, health disparities exist, with racial and ethnic minorities less likely to have advanced directives and [...]

Background: Ideally, all patients should have a designated medical durable power of attorney (MDPOA) in the event that they are incapable of making decisions for themselves when admitted to the hospital. This best practice ensures that patient wishes are being followed and eliminates the burden of identifying a medical proxy during a critical and stressful [...]

Background: Goal-concordant care is an ongoing challenge in hospital settings. Failures in communication with patients and caregivers can lead to unwanted usage of hospital resources, including the ICU. This leads to lower quality care for patients and increased burden on the hospital. Goals of care conversations can be utilized to ensure that care aligns with [...]