New York MIH Group Aiming to Improve Out-of-Hospital Care
In the United States the idea of community paramedicine—or is it mobile integrated healthcare?—may not be an entirely new one, but its widespread adoption as a formalized operational model for EMS agencies is still in its infancy. We can’t even agree on what to call it, so forgive some EMS services for being a little slow to come around on an idea that, while it makes perfect sense in principle, takes a little more effort to implement in practice.
But with each agency that does develop a mobile integrated healthcare model for itself, it becomes a bit easier for others to follow in their footsteps. A relatively new group promoting the idea is the New York Mobile Integrated Healthcare Association (NYMIHA), which seeks to provide higher quality patient-centered out-of-hospital care and help prevent emergencies before they begin.
According to the group’s founder, Kevin Munjal, MD, MPH, NYMIHA was formed by members of the local EMS community who recognized that the role of prehospital care systems was very limited in relation to the larger healthcare system—and at times even at odds with the triple aims of pursuing the improvement of the quality of the patient experience, improving the health of the population and lowering the per capita costs of delivering care. It was the feeling of both local as well as national leaders in prehospital medicine that there was a larger role that EMS could play to help fill unmet needs within our local communities.
“Many conversations were occurring on the subject of mobile integrated healthcare throughout the state, including among a group of us in New York City who had started a group called the New York City Community Paramedicine Task Force,” says Munjal. “In order to create a statewide coalition of parties that could speak to our shared issues, we consolidated into the New York Mobile Integrated Healthcare Association, a statewide coalition for community paramedicine and innovative emergency medical services.”
NYMIHA’s mission is simple: improving the care provided to the people of New York by empowering New York’s EMS providers to play a larger, more integrated role within the healthcare system.
“We do this by fostering collaboration among advocates and practitioners of community paramedicine and mobile integrated healthcare in the state of New York and by advancing new models of out-of-hospital care, including elements to 1) make EMS more adaptive to changes in the healthcare system, 2) align EMS with the continuum of healthcare providers and resources, and 3) integrate EMS into the public health infrastructure,” Munjal explains.
However straightforward NYMIHA’s goals, achieving them in New York and elsewhere is going to take considerable effort on the part of EMS agencies and other players in the healthcare system.
“It would be extraordinary if health systems, payers and policymakers could begin to see EMS as a valuable mobile healthcare resource capable of participating in the continuum of care and being an irreplaceable tool to help reach patients in the community, instead of as merely a method of transportation,” notes Munjal.
He says NYMIHA is actively seeking involvement and membership among EMS providers and agencies, as well as other providers and organizations involved in both emergency care and community based care within New York State.
And Munjal encourages others from around the country to open a dialogue with as many different parties and stakeholders as possible to find ways to collaborate in order to move EMS toward a new, brighter future.
