NJHA President and CEO Betsy Ryan and state Health Commissioner Cathleen Bennett today signed an agreement that will allow patients and practitioners to fill out electronic POLST forms and save them in a secure statewide repository.

The electronic POLST form, called emPOLST, was created by NJHA’s IT team to integrate with electronic medical records and ensure seamless access to Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment.

Gov. Christie signed New Jersey’s POLST law in December 2011 to empower individuals to make decisions regarding their medical care at the end of life and to give those preferences the power of a physician’s order. The Department designated NJHA to create New Jersey’s initial POLST form and now, electronic POLST.

Bennett thanked NJHA for its partnership and for lending its technical expertise to create an electronic form and repository that is easy to access and ensures privacy and security for patients’ health information.

“Through this tool, more healthcare providers will have immediate access to critical information they need to treat the patient according to the patients’ healthcare preference,” said Bennett. “Patients with smart phones also will be able to share their electronic POLST form with a new physician, specialist or emergency room doctor.”

The signing event, held at Villa Marie Claire Hospice, was hosted by Mike Maron, CEO of Holy Name Medical Center. Maron led the Health Commissioner, elected officials and media members on a tour of the inpatient hospice center and stressed the importance of promoting conversations about end-of-life care preferences.

“End-of-life care isn’t about dying, it’s about living,” said Maron.

NJHA’s Chief Information Officer Joe Carr provided a demonstration of the emPOLST tool, including the easy access via smart phone which scans the user’s thumb to ensure security and privacy.

“Electronic POLST is an important tool that uses mobile technology to literally place that power in the hands of patients, along with their primary care providers,” said Ryan. “That’s the ultimate goal behind POLST – putting patients first and providing the best care for their unique situation.”

The emPOLST form will be pilot tested in select sites and eventually rolled out statewide. In addition to the repository and consumer access, NJHA is developing a product for hospitals to automate the operational process for creating and uploading the forms. Numerous POLST resources, including the downloadable print form in four languages, are available at www.njha.com/POLST.