Mobile integrated health care and community paramedicine (MIH-CP) programs make it possible for emergency medical services personnel to keep patients out of the emergency department (ED) by addressing non-emergency needs in the home. This helps keep healthcare costs down while also reducing unnecessary emergency department use. These programs can potentially reduce healthcare costs, eliminate unnecessary emergency department use, and transition emergency medical services back into the patient’s community or home. Between 2014 and 2015, CCA piloted a community paramedicine program called Acute Community Care (ACC) to serve members in the Greater Boston area.
This case assessment, which was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research through support from the Center for Health Care Strategies’ Complex Care Innovation Lab, a Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit-funded initiative, found that increasing patient volume after the pilot period would result in net savings, as the program had been effective in preventing unnecessary ED use. The case study can potentially inform the design and sustainability of other MIH-CP programs by illustrating the cost savings that can result from the expansion of MIH-CP programs.
Business Case for Community Paramedicine