EMS World Editorial Advisory Board Spotlight: Matthew R. Streger, Esq., MPA, NRP

Matthew Streger, a member of EMS World’s editorial board since 2000, is taking his 30 years of EMS experience and 10 years of experience as an attorney to the law firm of Keavney & Streger.

Keavney & Streger is based out of Princeton, NJ, but represents EMS providers and agencies throughout the state. Streger started the firm with his partner, Margaret Keavney, about a year and a half ago, while serving as executive director of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Mobile Health Service in New Jersey. After completing his term in that position, Streger transitioned back into private practice.

Streger and Keavney both provide education and training nationwide and have lectured across the country on best practices in EMS.

Streger says there isn’t much of a learning curve at his new position, since he is so familiar with both law and EMS systems already.

“I’ve been practicing law for many years, so I’m familiar with the structures and functions of EMS systems and healthcare law in New Jersey,” he says. “The challenge comes from the constantly evolving nature of health law, both in EMS and across the industry.”

The main part of his practice he’s focused on now is beginning to foster client-attorney relationships. Streger says he’d like to take advantage of this ramp-up period to find clients with needs he can meet to create mutually beneficial relationships.

“It’s a time-consuming process,” Streger says. “The goal is establishing an ongoing, long-term relationship with a client to be more preventive rather than reactive.”

Best Practices for Efficiency

At his previous position, Streger enjoyed success in running the Robert Wood Johnson EMS system. In the time he was there, Streger says, the department took two years to effectively examine every facet of the organization, including administration, operations, communications, finance and reimbursement, and used best practices to make it more efficient. Some internal changes, for example, were changing the way the system deployed vehicles and met response time goals.

While at Robert Wood Johnson, Streger also oversaw a merger with a neighboring hospital’s EMS system. He says they integrated the best parts of both hospitals and were able to make that system successful. He also helped plan and build a state-of-the-art communication center containing all-new communication technology, including the Optima deployment system from Intermedix.

“We probably quadrupled the capabilities of the physical center and streamlined every part of the workflow,” Streger says.

For this hard work, his department won the 2014 New Jersey State Outstanding Private EMS System award.

In his new position, one of Streger’s main goals is to provide help to those who need it. He says he aims to find agencies and providers in the New Jersey area that have unmet needs in their EMS systems and help them fill those needs, whether that be a gap assessment or providing research on best practices in an area where they may be struggling. He aims to create long-term relationships with his clients where he can help get in front of issues before they arise.  

“My best client relationships are those that are regular and ongoing,” Streger says. “We’ll speak regularly and communicate about issues so I’m familiar with anything that happens with them, and I can make minor mid-course corrections instead of dramatic turns.”

The Same Sheet of Music

One way he hopes to push the field forward is to create changes in the regulatory structures of EMS to help create more cohesive and standardized systems.

“We want to make sure everyone is on the same sheet of music,” Streger says. “For example, Medicare is one sheet of music, it doesn’t matter what state you are in. In EMS, we’re on different sheets of music in the same jurisdiction sometimes. Local communities have local needs, but we need to work toward establishing more evidence-based practices across the industry.”

To accomplish this, Streger also serves on the Panel of Commissioners for the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, helping to work toward national best practices in the area of medical transportation.

In his practice, Streger says he hopes to be a positive influence and provide help to as many providers and systems across the state as he can.

“As a paramedic, I can help one person at a time,” Streger says. “As a manager, I can help usually just what’s within my system. As a lawyer and educator, I can help EMS providers do their jobs better across the country.”