UMass Memorial to Integrate End-Of-Life Care Directives Into EHR

UMass Memorial Health Care, Worcester, Mass., and advance care planning technology developer Luminat, Minneapolis, will fully integrate patients’ end-of-life directives into their electronic health records.

The partnership will enable physicians to consistently document the end-of-life wishes from patients – from palliative care preferences and specific spiritual beliefs, to identifying the individuals who should be involved and informed in the decision-making process.

The data is then fed into the patient’s electronic medical record via cloud-based technology, giving the entire provider system the same information and instructions, and helping family members understand the patient’s end-of-life preferences.

“Unless communicated in advance, many medical treatments provided at the end of life are inconsistent with patients’ wishes,” David Fairchild, M.D., senior vice president of clinical integration at UMass Memorial, says. “As UMass Memorial transitions to being an accountable care organization, we recognized the opportunity to use Luminat technology to enable and support conversations about end of life.”