CAMTS Unveils Community Paramedic Accreditation Standards

PRESS RELEASE

The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) proudly announces the release of the first national accreditation standards for community paramedicine programs. The standards reflect months of work with input from some of the national leaders in community paramedic services. 

Community paramedicine is a relatively new and expanding field of healthcare focused on providing primary and preventive care to underserved populations. The goals include increasing access to care, improving health and well-being, and reducing hospital admissions and readmissions, emergency room visits, and costs. Care providers can come from any area of healthcare, but most community paramedicine services use paramedics in expanded roles caring for clients in nonemergency situations in their homes or other locations.

As an accredited standards setting organization through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), CAMTS follows the ANSI essential elements for establishing new and expanding standards. This includes solicitation and consideration of comments and suggestions for standards development. The draft Community Paramedic Program Accreditation Standards are posted on the CAMTS website (camts.org) and are now open for public comment. An online comment/suggestion form allows for new comments and assures all recommendations are logged and addressed. Feedback is provided to the submitter of each recommended change.

CAMTS is also establishing a Community Paramedic Program Accreditation Standards consensus committee that will review and approve any changes. If you are interested in joining this committee, please contact CAMTS at admin@camts.org. Include your name and contact information and your relationship to community paramedicine programs. The consensus committee will include representatives from providers, program administration, partners, and users.

The draft standards will be available for comments until April 2021 and the final standards will be released in the fall of 2021, with an implementation date of January 1, 2022. Programs that believe they are in substantial compliance with the standards can apply for the voluntary accreditation at that time.

The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) is dedicated to improving the quality of patient care and safety of the transport environment for services providing rotorwing, fixed wing and ground transport systems. To achieve accreditation by CAMTS, medical transport programs must adhere to CAMTS’s standards, developed and continually improved by a board of highly skilled and experienced medical and medical transportation professionals. Adherence to these standards, which are above and beyond regulatory requirements, are audited every three years to assure program compliance to remain accredited by CAMTS. Nearly 200 services have achieved CAMTS accreditation. For more information, visit www.camts.org.