North Carolina’s Medical Order For Scope of Treatment, or “MOST” form is currently undergoing some changes. Don’t panic if you’re thinking “We just figured out how to use this thing.” Most of the changes are minor, and one that long term care providers have asked for and will like is deletion of the one-year automatic renewal requirement contained in the original MOST form approved by the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the original form, the MOST had to be renewed at least annually or it expired, even if the resident had experienced no change in condition and no other “required review” criteria had been triggered. One of the proposed revisions would eliminate this requirement and would limit the required renewal of the MOST form to only events that would “require” a review and renewal of or modification to the form—a resident’s change of condition or a change in the expressed care choices of a resident.
The revised MOST form is working its way through the regulatory approval process. We’ll keep our readers posted on the status of these changes and let you know when they are finalized. In the interim, the MOST form as it was originally crafted remains in effect, including the requirement that it be renewed annually to remain effective.