For a variety of reasons, ranging from convenience to barriers in accessing primary care and other services, many patients call Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for non-urgent (often chronic) conditions. Yet often these individuals end up being transported by ambulance to – and treated in – the Emergency Department (ED), even though their medical issues could be handled more effectively and efficiently in outpatient care settings.
Emergency medical service providers, community organizations, and other stakeholders are working together to implement innovative strategies to reduce non-urgent use of emergency services, connect patients to more appropriate care, and reduce costs.
The featured Innovations describe how an ambulance provider redesigned its emergency medical services system to create new care and referral pathways for 911 callers not facing true emergencies; a community paramedic program that significantly reduced unnecessary 911 calls from a local shelter and enhanced access to primary care for shelter residents; and a city EMS program that used a multi-pronged strategy to reduce unnecessary ambulance transports and ED visits, connecting non-emergent patients to primary care.
The featured QualityTools include resources for reducing inappropriate emergency department use and tools to support community paramedicine programs. Featured QualityTools:
• Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Community Paramedicine Program Toolkit
• Community Paramedic Evaluation Tool
• Quality Field Notes: Reducing Inappropriate Emergency Department Use
• ER Is for Emergencies
This information was originally published in the AHRQ Innovative Health Care Exchange August 17, 2016 issue.