A Road Map to Achieving Mobile Integrated Healthcare

The rapid evolution into mobile integrated healthcare has been one of the most discussed issues in the EMS arena.

Virtually every national EMS association has an MIH or community paramedicine committee, more than 400 people attended the EMS World Expo MIH Summit in November, and there were more than 200 attendees from seven countries at the International Roundtable on Community Paramedicine in Reno this summer.

A resource center has been created by Medtronic Philanthropy, 12 associations collaborated on an MIH vision statement coordinated by the NAEMT MIH-CP committee, and Jones & Bartlett published its first book on the subject, Mobile Integrated Healthcare: An Approach to Implementation. This growth has even helped spawn the launch of Integrated Healthcare Delivery, a whole journal dedicated to effective integration throughout the continuum of healthcare.

The interest in MIH-CP goes far beyond EMS circles. Attendees at the EMS World Expo MIH Summit included TEAMHealth (a publicly traded national physician contracting corporation) and Kaiser Permanente (the largest integrated delivery system in the county). One Summit sponsor was Amerimed and House Call Physicians, a rapidly growing physician house call company that is forging partnerships with EMS agencies. The foreword for the Jones & Bartlett book was written by Maureen Bisognano, president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, which developed the Triple Aim. Also, thought leaders on EMS-based MIH-CP have given briefings and presentations to organizations such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Milbank Memorial Fund’s Reforming States Group, the California Endowment for Health Journalism Fellowships at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism, the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) and, of course, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Perspectives on EMS-based MIH-CP are as diverse as the programs themselves. For this reason, EMS World is running a yearlong series to highlight the various perspectives and critical issues involved in MIH-CP. Articles will be authored by experts and key stakeholders in the healthcare system. It is our hope that by drilling into these topics, readers will gain a deeper understanding of how MIH-CP should evolve and how to prove the value of these programs through effective integration and collaboration.

This series will address the following topics:

• Strategic planning for rapid implementation;
• Data metrics and strategic goals;
• Collaborations with home healthcare;
• Updates on CMS Innovation Grants;
• Accreditation of MIH-CP programs;
• Profile of the MIH Summit at EMS on the Hill Day;
• Payer perspectives for MIH-CP services;
• Choosing the best candidates to be MIH practitioners;
• Education and training of MIH practitioners;
• MIH-CP programs in rural settings;
• International models of MIH-CP.

Part 1 in the series is authored by Matt Zavadsky, MS-HSA, EMT, who is serving as the executive editor of this project. Matt is the public affairs director at MedStar Mobile Healthcare, the exclusive emergency and non-emergency EMS/MIH provider for Fort Worth and 14 other cities in North Texas. Matt has helped guide the implementation of several innovative programs that have transformed MedStar fully as a mobile Integrated healthcare provider, including high utilizer, CHF readmission reduction, observational admission reduction, hospice revocation avoidance and 9-1-1 nurse triage programs.

We hope you enjoy this series and welcome you to send your comments and questions for our experts to address during the year. E-mail editor@emsworld.com.

Nancy Perry is editorial director for EMS World.