MMA Priority POLST Legislation Introduced

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.