Download New England EMS Agency Expands Community Paramedicine


INTEGRATED HEALTHCARE
New England EMS Agency Expands Community
Paramedicine Program
JUN 4, 2014 SOURCE: EASCARE
BOSTON—EasCare, a mobile, integrated healthcare
provider and one of New England’s largest medical
transportation companies, has been recommended
to expand the role of its highly trained community
care paramedics (CCPs) for a project that would allow
them to treat patients in their homes, in order to
avoid a more costly visit to the hospital. The
recommendation was made by the Emergency
Medical Care Advisory Board (EMCAB) of the
Department of Public Health.
EasCare’s paramedicine program will avoid
unnecessary emergency department and hospital
utilization, which can cost thousands of dollars per
visit, resulting in significant savings and better coordinated care.
The innovative program, in which an ambulance company will be trying to reduce unnecessary trips to local
hospitals, will launch through a partnership with Commonwealth Care Alliance (CCA), one of the nation’s
leading not-for-profit care delivery systems for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with complex medical
needs. The project was approved overwhelmingly by both EMCAB and the new Community Paramedicine
subcommittee of the Department of Public Health under a new Out of Hospital Care Program. EasCare’s
new program now awaits final approval by the Department of Public Health.
This innovative program, called community paramedicine, is a new model of care where paramedics apply
their training and skills in non-traditional community-based environments outside the usual emergency
response and transport model.
The EasCare-CCA program will be the first of its kind in Massachusetts and will initially focus on servicing
the Boston and South Shore communities, and it will allow up to 10 Massachusetts-certified paramedics to
be trained to provide patient-centered care to CCA patients under new roles without transporting the

MENU
patient to a healthcare facility.
CCPs will collaborate with the patient’s physician to create and deliver care without transporting to the
hospital. This care model is patient centered, by accessing the patient’s medical records to having
advanced assessments being performed with lab tests read in their home, technology will meet home care.
The CCPs will also be able to identify any risks missed when transporting to the hospital, like fall hazards
and medication non-compliance.
States such as Texas, Minnesota and Colorado have turned to community paramedicine for non-traditional
solutions. EasCare and CCA were the first organizations to introduce this innovative model to
Massachusetts when they began a pilot program for post-discharge follow-up visits this past November.
This new model, which required state approval, will expand on the original pilot and will be based on
models developed in other states and by EasCare’s parent company, Medavie.
The expanded program is designed to fill gaps in the current healthcare delivery system. Since 2003, CCA
has offered home visits during the day with 24/7 phone assistance to speak directly with a CCA healthcare
provider for care coordination. Previously, during off hours, the physicians were required to use hospitals
and costly ambulance services in order to deliver after-hours patient care. Now that CCA has partnered
with EasCare for this unique program, patients can receive medical care in their homes at all times of day
from an EasCare paramedic.
The primary goal is to meet the needs of a select
group of 2,000 of CCA’s patients in the greater Boston
area in a safe and controlled environment through
community paramedicine. EasCare’s Out of Hospital
Paramedic Care program is geared towards providing
effective, high-quality, patient-centered care, while
avoiding unnecessary hospital visits and admissions,
and thus controlling health care costs.
CCA’s protocol for the new program is to triage its
patients as they call into the center; patients that are
not sufficiently stable for on-scene care will be
transported as usual to an emergency department
via the local 911-provider. The EasCare Out of
Hospital Paramedic will only visit patients who are triaged as appropriate for the program by CCA’s
physicians.
EasCare’s CCPs will be able to administer IVs and medications, evaluate respiratory issues, assess blood
sugar levels for diabetic patients, manage hypertension, treat nausea and vomiting and care for wounds,
among many other capabilities. In addition to caring for patients’ immediate needs, CCPs will also perform
post-discharge and home follow-up visits, medication inventory, home safety evaluations and care
coordination with the patients’ doctors throughout this two-year program.
By offering these Out-of-Hospital services, EasCare will become an integrated component of a welldeveloped comprehensive healthcare model. These essential services meet several critical healthcare
system goals, including cost containment and improving patient access to care. Though the needs of
Massachusetts communities vary, this system can provide the flexibility necessary to deliver a wide variety
of tailored out-of-hospital services in the future.
“The capabilities of the EMS system have drastically evolved both in terms of technology, as well as with the
role of paramedics. Paramedics are now able to perform complex patient assessments and interventions
that once were only conducted in a hospital setting,” said George Gilpin, CEO of EasCare. “We expect the
Extended Care Paramedic Program will be a key contributor to improved patient outcomes and to
healthcare savings, all in the patient’s home.”
EasCare’s parent company, Medavie EMS, has been a pioneer in community paramedicine in Canada.
Medavie ran a similar pilot program in Nova Scotia that resulted in a 70 percent decrease in skilled-nursing
facility patients being transported to an emergency room. Through another rural community paramedic
program, there was a 23 percent reduction in visits to the local emergency room through the provision of
home based non-emergency primary care.
“CCA's mission has been to provide high quality, cost effective care in the best setting for our patients—
usually in their home,” said Dr. Toyin Ajayi, the Hospitalist Medical Director and Director of Transitional
Medicine at CCA. “We believe this community paramedicine partnership with EasCare will allow CCA to
extend its ability to impact patient care in a unique and innovative manner. The integration of our primary
care model and EasCare's community paramedicine will allow us to truly provide integrated care 24 hours
a day."
Post a new comment
Login - Or - Guest
Post
0 Comments
RSS | Subscribe