A key principle in EMS system design is creating incentives that align the needs of patients and the community with what the ambulance services, medical first response agencies and 9-1-1 communications centers can provide. Simply put, it’s implementing positive consequences when the various organizations meet expectations and negative consequences when they do not. At a […]
One of the upsides to the tightening of our economic conditions is that EMS systems and provider organizations—public and private—are paying more attention to the value they provide.1 Another upside is the increase in political will to make changes to the status quo. This creates an opportunity for EMS systems and provider organizations to refocus […]
Our EMS operations are full of processes. Some of our processes are designed in ways that make them prone to losing or misplacing things big and small—like backboards, radios, oxygen cylinders, supplies and medications. Some of those things require preventive maintenance, replacement after expiration dates or periodic inspections. This is the process of “asset management.”
Quality efforts in many EMS organizations tend to focus on two aspects of performance:
1. Reviews are made of individual cases to ensure care was in compliance to the process design (protocol); and
2. Efforts are also made to ensure performance of the organization was compliant to a wide variety process design standards, such as response interval requirements.
Quality efforts in many EMS organizations tend to focus on two aspects of performance: Reviews are made of individual cases to ensure care was in compliance to the process design (protocol); and Efforts are also made to ensure performance of the organization was compliant to a wide variety process design standards, such as response interval […]
End the discrimination against administrative & support staff Paramedics, EMTs and medical first responders are all required to undergo continuing education. The legal motivation is to keep their licensure or certification current. The organization motivation is to make sure that those who provide patient care are competent in the treatment of common and less commonly-seen […]
Building a comprehensive scorecard for EMS systems One of the challenges we face in EMS is measuring how well our overall EMS system and the various processes within it are performing. Several recent columns have addressed the issue of measuring EMS performance on ACS/STEMI cases (EMS Insider October 2011 and March 2012). This time, a […]
Building a STEMI Scorecard In my October 2011 EMS Insider column, I outlined an Utstein-style process for categorizing and measuring outcomes for patients taken to the cardiac catheterization lab. The article included two types of metrics: process and outcome metrics. Process metrics show how well the processes that are presumed to contribute to better outcomes […]
How well does your system perform? Among the handful of cases for which EMS has the potential to make a truly measureable difference in outcomes are the heart attacks known as ST elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMI). EMS has the potential to identify STEMI cases in the field and, working in close collaboration with receiving hospitals, […]
Red ink offers opportunity for improvement Black ink is commonly used in financial reports to indicate that a key value is within budget or profitable. Red ink shows where things are out of budget or operating at a loss. The attitude in organizations can be different when the ink on the bottom line of the […]
Mic Gunderson is the moderator of NAEMSP Dialog and president of the consulting firm IPS. He served on the editorial board of Prehospital Emergency Medicine and as an editor for several NAEMSP textbooks.
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