National POLST
National POLST Collaborative is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that develops and maintains the standardized National POLST Form and supporting toolkits, serving state POLST programs, healthcare organizations, and clinicians across all 50 states and DC to honor treatment wishes for seriously ill patients.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What National POLST does
National POLST Collaborative (NPC) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in its current form in 2022, succeeding the National POLST Paradigm Task Force that was originally convened in September 2004. The organization develops and maintains the standardized National POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) Form, which translates seriously ill or frail patients' treatment preferences into portable medical orders that travel across care settings and state lines. NPC's core deliverables include the National POLST Form (with Version 2 guidance released December 2025), state-specific POLST registries for electronic access, the POLST Quality and Research Toolkit (PQRsT), a National POLST Technology Guide, a POLST Legislative Guide, POLST Care Continuum Toolkits tailored for EMS, hospital, nursing home, hospice, and primary care settings, and interactive educational modules in development. Technology integrations are progressing into mainstream EHR platforms—the form was approved for incorporation into the Epic foundation platform in November 2025, and NPC is collaborating with Lantana on a Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) standard for electronic exchange.
The organization serves four primary customer segments: state POLST programs (active across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, up from just six states in 2004), healthcare organizations (health systems, hospitals, hospices, nursing homes), individual clinicians (physicians, nurses, NPs, PAs, social workers), and—as indirect beneficiaries—seriously ill patients and their families. NPC operates a community-led, membership-based go-to-market model with three tiers—State Program ($1,000/year), Organizational ($1,500/year), and Individual ($200/year)—supplemented by quarterly all-member meetings, an annual conference (2026 in New Orleans), CME-accredited webinars, a monthly newsletter, and a member-only resource library.
NPC's revenue model is overwhelmingly grant-dependent: approximately 94% of income comes from foundations supporting end-of-life, palliative, and serious illness care, about 5% from state POLST program support, and roughly 1% from individual donations. There is no endowment, and grants are short-term and project-based, creating a structural funding risk. The organization maintains strategic alliances with technology vendors (Epic, MyDirectives, Vynca, Koda Health, MEDITECH, CRISP, StickyJ Medical ID, Beyond Lucid Technologies, Lantana), healthcare foundations (Archstone Foundation, John A. Hartford Foundation, CHCF, Cambia Health Foundation, Cabot Foundation, Retirement Research Foundation), and advocacy and clinical partners (Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, C-TAC, Ochsner Health, LHCQF, AMDA, Ariadne Labs).
National POLST firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- National POLST
- Legal name
- National POLST Collaborative
- Website
- https://polst.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- National POLST Collaborative is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that develops and maintains the standardized National POLST Form and supporting toolkits, serving state POLST programs, healthcare organizations, and clinicians across all 50 states and DC to honor treatment wishes for seriously ill patients.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
National POLST industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Advance Care Planning Standards
- NAICS
- Political Organizations (81394)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Health Services (8000)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Public Health Strategy, Policy & Legislation (HLAJAMAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Government Public Health Grantmaking & Program Offices (HLAJALAA)
Keywords
Where National POLST is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
National POLST business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Grants: Primary revenue source representing approximately 94% of income. Grants come from foundations supporting end-of-life care, palliative care, and serious illness care initiatives. Grant awards are short-term with funding ending when projects conclude.
- State POLST Program Support: Approximately 5% of support comes from state POLST programs, likely through membership fees or service agreements.
- Individual Donations: Approximately 1% of support comes from individual donations. The organization accepts credit card donations online and checks by mail.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | State Program Membership - $1,000 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Organizational Membership - $1,500 annually |
| Subscription | Annual | Individual Membership - $200 annually |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
National POLST product offering
Product offeringCore offering
National POLST Collaborative develops and disseminates the standardized National POLST Form, a portable medical order that translates seriously ill patients' wishes into actionable medical orders for emergency and clinical care. The organization provides supporting resources including state registries standards, quality and research toolkits, technology and legislative guides, care continuum toolkits, and interactive educational modules, while coordinating state POLST programs across all 50 states and DC through a tiered membership structure.
Product overview
National POLST Collaborative offers a portfolio of products centered around the POLST (Portable Medical Orders) program, which gives seriously ill people control over their healthcare treatment. The core product is the National POLST Form, which translates patient wishes into medical orders. The portfolio includes state-specific POLST registries for electronic access, the POLST Quality and Research Toolkit (PQRsT) for program evaluation, the National POLST Technology Guide for implementation, POLST Legislative Guide for policy development, and POLST Care Continuum Toolkits for various healthcare settings. Interactive educational modules for clinician training are in development. The organization also supports integration with electronic health record systems like Epic and provides resources for state programs across all 50 states.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- National POLST Form
- POLST State Registries
- POLST Quality and Research Toolkit (PQRsT)
- National POLST Technology Guide
- POLST Legislative Guide
- POLST Care Continuum Toolkits
- POLST Interactive Educational Modules
- National POLST Collaborative Membership Program
Quantifiable outcome
- Expanded from 6 states in 2004 to all 50 states and DC working to grow adoption of POLST
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use National POLST
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
National POLST technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature4 records
National POLST partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- MyDirectivescoreNPC collaboration with MyDirectives to bring expert guidance for POLST completion through digital platforms. MyDirectives serves as Platinum Conference Sponsor for 2026 NPC Conference.
- California Health Care Foundation (CHCF)coreMajor foundation supporter of POLST initiatives, featured on NPC website as supporting organization.
- Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC)minorNational organization advocating for equity and addressing disparities in care, partnering on shared goals around serious illness care.
- Ochsner HealthminorMajor Louisiana health system and event sponsor for NPC. Dr. Susan Nelson serves as System Chair of Palliative Medicine at Ochsner Health.
- Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum (LHCQF)coreHosts NPC as fiscal sponsor and administers the Louisiana POLST program (LaPOST) and Serious Illness Coalition. Cindy Munn serves as CEO of LHCQF.
- Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC)coreLed efforts to bring POLST to California, establishes standards, provides education. Jennifer Moore Ballentine serves as CEO.
- The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA)minorProfessional medical society supporting POLST through formal resolutions and policies about POLST use.
- Ariadne LabscoreJoint initiative on POLST educational modules development, with Dr. Erik Fromme serving as Senior Scientist. Project aims to create approved national POLST education modules.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
National POLST competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- MyDirectives: Consumer-facing digital advance care planning platform that collaborated with NPC in November 2025 to provide expert guidance for POLST completion. As a Platinum Conference Sponsor, MyDirectives is closely integrated with NPC while building a competing digital-first ACP alternative.
- Vynca: Digital advance care planning technology company whose platform is featured as a partner on NPC's website. Vynca represents the technology-driven approach to ACP that competes with NPC's form-based model for clinician adoption and EHR integration slots.
- Koda Health: Technology company focused on POLST and serious illness care solutions that sponsored NPC's 2026 Conference. Koda represents a newer generation of ACP-native digital tools that could either integrate with NPC's standard or compete with it for adoption.
Direct peers
- Ariadne Labs: Joint innovation center at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health focused on serious illness care. NPC and Ariadne Labs have an active partnership to develop approved national POLST educational modules, putting them on parallel standards-setting paths for clinician training.
- Respecting Choices: National advance care planning program originally developed at Gunderson Health System that offers ACP curriculum, certification, and implementation tools for healthcare organizations. Operates as an adjacent ACP standards and training organization that competes with NPC for health system adoption.
- Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC): National advocacy coalition working to improve care for people with serious illness. C-TAC and NPC share overlapping missions around equity in serious illness care and are listed as active partners, making C-TAC a closely aligned national advocacy peer.
- Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC): California-based nonprofit that led POLST adoption in California and provides education and training on serious illness care. CCCC's CEO and founding CEO both sit on NPC's board, and the organizations operate as closely aligned state/national partners advancing the same POLST framework.
Broad incumbents
- Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC): National palliative care organization that provides training, tools, and technical assistance for clinicians and health systems. While broader in scope than NPC, CAPC addresses overlapping serious illness care infrastructure and competes for similar foundation funding and clinical mindshare.
Regional players
- Hospice & Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts: State-level federation whose Executive Director (Christine McMichael) serves on NPC's board. Represents the state POLST program structure that NPC coordinates nationally, making it both a downstream constituent and a comparable mission-aligned peer organization.
- Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum (LHCQF): Louisiana-based nonprofit that serves as NPC's fiscal sponsor and administers the LaPOST state POLST program. Operates as NPC's institutional backbone and is deeply intertwined operationally, though its primary mission is broader healthcare quality improvement in Louisiana.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
National POLST social profiles
Digital presenceNational POLST compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
National POLST financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
National POLST leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles21 records
National POLST funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
National POLST M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about National POLST
What does National POLST do?
National POLST Collaborative develops and disseminates the standardized National POLST Form, a portable medical order that translates seriously ill patients' wishes into actionable medical orders for emergency and clinical care. The organization provides supporting resources including state registries standards, quality and research toolkits, technology and legislative guides, care continuum toolkits, and interactive educational modules, while coordinating state POLST programs across all 50 states and DC through a tiered membership structure.
Is National POLST a public or private company?
National POLST is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was National POLST founded?
National POLST was founded in 2004. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is National POLST based?
National POLST is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does National POLST make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Grants are the primary driver. The others are state POLST Program Support and individual Donations.
Who are National POLST's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are MyDirectives, Vynca and Koda Health. Direct peers are Ariadne Labs, Respecting Choices, Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) and Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC). Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is listed as a broad incumbent. Regional players are Hospice & Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts and Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum (LHCQF).
Does National POLST have an API?
No public API is recorded for National POLST.
What industry is National POLST in?
National POLST's product category is Advance Care Planning Standards. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAJAMAA, Public Health Strategy, Policy & Legislation, with a secondary code of HLAJALAA, Government Public Health Grantmaking & Program Offices. Its NAICS code is 81394 and its SIC code is 8600.