For many Americans, the last few years have been a crash course in understanding the complex landscape that is our healthcare system. Regardless of your political leanings, it’s hard to deny that the current system is difficult for the average American to navigate. On a recent Saturday morning, I opened the Austin-American Statesman to a […]
Some of the most common questions in the development of a Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) strategy relate to financial sustainability. Yes, it is the right thing to do for the patients and it’s necessary to meet the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Triple Aim (improved patient outcomes, improved population health and reduced cost of care), but […]
It seems the industry is abuzz with talk about healthcare reform and how community paramedicine programs will help to solve the world’s healthcare woes. While I am a passionate believer in what this future holds for our industry, I am also a realist and pragmatist when it comes to the blocking and tackling that has […]
The Quality Improvement Committee of the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), which I chair, is leading a new project to develop a set of nationally standardized EMS performance measures that may be used by communities and payers to assess the overall performance of their EMS systems. The need for standardized performance measures is being […]
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Breakthrough Collaborative Series Model is a method used to bring organizations together to learn and collaborate to make significant improvements in a specific topic area.1 This process was used in ambulance service in Massachusetts from 2009–2013 to improve prehospital stroke care.2 A key element of the method is to […]
Much has been written about the healthcare reforms contained in the Affordable Care Act, and the ways in which EMS and mobile integrated healthcare can incorporate those changes into their delivery systems. But one thing which has not been discussed much in the EMS and mobile integrated healthcare field is the role and requirements of […]
It’s 4 a.m. and an engine company and medic unit is on the scene of a pediatric patient with a low-grade fever. The little girl is not in distress but the young mother wants her to be seen by a doctor at the emergency department (ED). Family encourages her to take the ambulance instead of […]
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement says that, “Improving the U.S. health care system requires simultaneous pursuit of three aims: improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing per capita costs of health care.” The prediction is that healthcare organizations that fail to pursue all three legs of this Triple Aim will […]
In the June 2013 Healthcare Reform column, we addressed the steps to get started contracting with Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in your area. One of the steps listed was asking the right questions. This is almost as critical as gaining a seat at the contracting table. Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) sets forth the […]
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—most commonly referred to as the ACA, or “Obamacare”—officially turned one year old on June 28. It represents some of the most sweeping changes to the financing of the U.S. healthcare system since Medicare. Much like Medicare, it brings with it a revolutionary opportunity to the mobile healthcare industry. […]
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