DNRs in Alaska - Comfort One & ALASKA POLST

ALASKA
POLST

POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) is for people with advanced, chronic, or end-stage illness and shares a patient's choices for treatment. With the POLST, those choices for care are turned into physician orders to make sure that individuals only get the treatments that they want.

The Alaska POLST form was signed into regulation May 2021 and may now be used. To provide for a smooth transition, the Comfort One will also remain a legal medical order, the most recently signed form is the active medical order. DHSS will continue to resupply Comfort One forms until June 1, 2022 to allow health care professionals and institutions to have time to learn about and adopt the Alaska POLST form.

A new site, akpolst.org, is maintained in collaboration with DHSS, ASHNHA, and the members of the Alaska State POLST workgroups to provide the POLST form and resources to support its use and implementation.