Publications

New Model of Paramedicine Could Reduce Demand for Long-Term Care

Author(s): 

Alicia Lafrance and Janet M. Coffman

Date: 
November 17, 2016

Mobile integrated healthcare – community paramedicine (MIH-CP) is a new model of care that trains paramedics to deliver a broader range of services than traditional emergency response and transport of people to emergency departments (ED). By 2014, more than 100 emergency medical services (EMS) agencies in 33 states and the District of Columbia had implemented one or more MIH-CP initiatives. Some MIH-CP initiatives have potential to reduce demand for long-term care (LTC) by partnering with home health agencies, hospices, hospitals and other organizations to provide home visits to senior citizens and/or younger persons with debilitating chronic conditions to address chronic or acute needs. This report summarizes the findings of a landscape analysis on MIH-CP programs that serve people who currently need or who are at risk for receiving long-term care and presents four examples of MIH-CP programs that serve these persons. These programs are achieving reductions in transports to emergency departments, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions which likely signal improvements in health that may obviate or delay need for long-term care.