Maryland mandates end-of-life wishes form for LTC residents
Maryland healthcare professionals will soon be required to complete a form outlining a patient's end-of-life wishes upon admission to a long-term care facility, according to a new regulation.The form, called Maryland MOLST — Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment — must be completed whenever an individual is admitted to a nursing home, an assisted living facility, a hospice, a home health agency or a dialysis center, The Delmarva Daily Times reported. The MOLST regulations are expected to become mandatory in early 2012, although LTC facilities can begin voluntary implementation at any point.
MOLST forms should be filled out for anyone seeking to avoid or receive life-sustaining treatments; lives in a long-term care facility or requires long-term care services; or is at risk of dying within the next year, according to the newspaper.
