Community Paramedicine is a new model of care enabling paramedics, rooted in and closely connected with their communities, to provide expanded services beyond their traditional role of emergency response. The California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) is conducting a statewide pilot project testing a number of community paramedicine concepts in a number of California counties. You can learn more about the statewide project at the EMSA page.
The UCLA Center for Prehospital Care is proud of the role we are playing as the primary education coordinator for the statewide Community Paramedic pilot training, and as the implementation partner for Los Angeles County. In Santa Monica and Glendale, paramedics are now able to offer some 911 callers transport to an urgent care center rather than a hospital emergency room if it's appropriate to their medical needs. This can offer patients faster and potentially less costly treatment, while reducing the burden on crowded hospital emergency departments.
Also in Glendale, community paramedics working with Glendale Adventist Medical Center are offering congestive heart failure patients home visits after they are discharged from the hospital. The home visits include a review of the patient's post-discharge medical progress, a medication review, and other evaluations designed to reduce the incidence of readmission to the hospital after treatment for congestive heart failure.
You can read more about the pilot projects in the following articles:
- MyGlendale via YouTube, 2/3/16: Community Paramedic Pilot Program - Congestive Heart Failure
- 89.3 KPCC, 1/2/16: House-call paramedics work to cut hospital readmissions in Glendale pilot project
- Los Angeles Times, 8/25/15: New breed of paramedics treats patients before emergencies occur
- Los Angeles Times, 9/2/15: Health care pilot programs in Glendale aim to keep patients and savings in mind
- 89.3 KPCC, 9/1/15: Pilot program uses paramedics to try to cut ER overcrowding
- Santa Monica Daily Press, 9/2/15: Two New Pilot Programs Launching to Reduce Hospital Readmissions, Ease ER Overcrowding and Decrease Healthcare Costs
- EMSWorld, 9/3/15: Mobile Integrated Healthcare Part 9: Community Paramedics Go Live in California
- MedicalXpress, 8/31/15: Two programs launching to reduce hospital readmissions, ease ER overcrowding
- News Medical, 9/1/15: Two new pilot programs launched to reduce hospital readmissions, ease overcrowding in ERs and lower healthcare costs