Community Paramedic Work Group to Report to NEMSAC

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Community paramedicine is one of the hottest topics in EMS these days. And, the National EMS Advisory Council has delved into the subject to discuss emerging issues. When finished, a work group will be submitting its report the NEMSAC for its approval and submittal to FICEMS and NHTSA.

The committee told the council at its September 2014 meeting that they have identified factors that hinder community paramedicine achieving its full potential. These factors include lack of national education standards and scope of practice, the need for training on public health practices and no standard methodology for recording the healthcare visit.

They were quick to point out that community paramedicine is not new, as the extension of ambulance service personnel to provide non-emergency public health and primary care activities began in the United States with programs in New Mexico and North Carolina in the 1990s.

They noted in their draft document that a recent NAEMT survey identified more than 235 ambulance service programs across the country.

“One challenge is the need to balance the promise of innovation with patient and provider safety,” but not all agencies want national standards, according to the report.

It’s imperative, the committee said, that NHTSA and FICEMS identify EMS personnel and where they fit into the state and local health arena.

While the concept to reduce the cost of healthcare cost appears to be gaining steam, the group said among the significant challenges they’ve identified include:

• Diversity of programs already in place;
• Lack of consistency in education, terminology and naming conventions;
• No consistently used data elements that can be used for comparative research and understanding;
• Lack of reimbursement as a healthcare service requires local funding;
• Lack of meaningful research to show EMS impact on patient health outcomes.

The draft also includes recommendations that should be addressed by NHTSA and FICEMS. NHTSA should modify NEMSIS to include data elements that can measure both performance and cost-saving implications. They also suggested NHTSA assist state EMS offices in adopting a scope of practice. In conjunction with that, FICEMS should have a technical committee assigned to develop a data standard.

Once the committee tweaks its report, it will be posted on EMS.gov for public comment.