February 22, 2024
The 2023 Legislature passed an MMA priority directing the Minnesota commissioner of health to assemble an advisory committee of stakeholders to study and recommend how to implement a statewide registry for Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms.
That advisory committee finalized their report and recommendations in the fall of 2023. The MMA is now pursuing legislation to implement those recommendations.
On February 22, Sen. Judy Seeberger (DFL – Afton) and Rep. John Huot (DFL – Rosemount), introduced SF 4154 and HF 4063. The legislation creates a statewide electronic registry of POLST forms available to EMS providers, emergency physicians and other appropriate providers to ensure patients’ medical treatments and end-of-life preferences are followed by all healthcare providers. Seeberger and Huot are both EMS providers.
Currently, physical paper copies of a patient’s POLST form are given to the patient before transferring. However, these copies can get damaged, misplaced, or become otherwise inaccessible. This legislation would ensure a patient’s POLST form is electronically accessible by caregivers and EMS at any time and from anywhere.
October 9, 2025
The MMA is partnering with Hennepin Healthcare to offer an in-person session on “Supporting Patients, Families, and Professionals in the Aftermath of Crisis” on October 21 from 6 to 8 pm in Room RL110 at the HCMC Red Building, 730 South 8th Street, in Minneapolis.
October 9, 2025
The MMA, in partnership with the Wisconsin Medical Society, will lead a panel discussion titled "The Role of Medical and Professional Societies in Supporting Clinicians and Community Health" at the Transforming Community and Rural Healthcare 2025: Bold Innovation and Partnerships symposium, to be held on October 27-28, at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
October 2, 2025
The federal government shutdown will affect the Minnesota healthcare system in several important ways.