Medicare Nation

Welcome, Medicare Nation! I’m excited about our guest and our important topic today. We’re discussing the confusion surrounding advanced directives. Have you ever thought about what would happen if you can’t speak for yourself and are in an emergency health situation? Who will express your wishes, and will the health care professionals understand? Dr. Ferdinando (Fred) Mirarchi is the ER Director of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Hamot. He has a solution!  Tell us about health care directives and the issues that commonly arise when people come to the ER. There are three types of directives: living will, DNR (Do Not Resuscitate order), and POLST (Physicians’ Order for Life Sustaining Treatment). All three of these have safety issues surrounding them, and all three bring questions. When are they to be followed? None of us know when an emergency situation may arise, so when do we carry these documents with us? Even medical professionals don’t understand these orders, but no one really wants to raise