MMA Legislative Priority to Develop a Statewide POLST Registry Heard in House Committee

February 16, 2023

A bill (HF 474) that would direct the health commissioner to study and implement a statewide database for Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST, forms was heard in the House Health Finance and Policy Committee on February 16.

Currently, physical paper copies of a patient’s POLST form are given to them before transferring. However, these copies can get damaged, misplaced, or become otherwise inaccessible. This bill would help ensure a patient’s POLST form is electronically accessible by caregivers at anytime from anywhere. This effort is a top legislative priority for the MMA. 

MMA President Will Nicholson, MD, testified in support of the bill. “You can imagine the frustration if a patient wakes up in a hospital bed after specifically outlining in their POLST form that they do not want to be transported outside of their home,” Nicholson said. “This can be extremely traumatic for patients, their family, and providers.” 

The Minnesota Ambulance Association (MAA) also shared support for the bill. In its letter, MAA stated “the establishment of a registry to collect and share POLST forms would give our EMS providers the ability to access the healthcare decisions of their patients when seconds count and when there is no one there to speak for them. This is a good step toward putting the patient in charge of their care.” 

“People lose documents, people don’t always carry documents with them,” argued Rep. John Huot (Rosemount – DFL), the bill’s author. “This would help medics, EMTs, police officers, first responders, physicians, and clinics access the data they need.” 

The bill received strong bipartisan support from the committee and was laid over for future inclusion in a health budget bill. The Senate companion, SF 441, bill is authored by Sen. Kelly Morrison MD, but has yet to receive a committee hearing.