Community Paramedic

What is Mobile Integrated Healthcare Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) is the provision of healthcare using patient-centered, mobile resources in the out-of-hospital environment. It may include, but is not limited to, MIH component services such as providing telephone advice to 9-1-1 callers instead of resource dispatch; providing community paramedicine primary care or post-discharge follow-up visits; or transport or referral to appropriate care.

To be successful, MIH programs must be:

• Fully integrated – a vital component of the existing healthcare system.
  
• Collaborative – predicated on meeting a defined need in a local community, which is articulated by local stakeholders and made evident by formal community health needs assessments.
  
• Patient centric – incorporating a holistic, long-term approach focused on the improvement of patient outcomes.
  
• Recognized as the practice of medicine - closely supervised and driven by engaged physicians involved in the MIH program, as well as the patient’s primary care network/patient-centered medical home.
  
• Team based – integrating multiple providers, both clinical and non-clinical, in meeting the holistic needs of patients who are either enrolled in or referred to MIH programs.
  
• Educationally appropriate – including more specialized training for community paramedicine and other MIH providers, which is approved by regulators or local stakeholders.
  
• Consistent with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) Triple Aim philosophy.
  
• Financially sustainable – including proactive discussion and financial planning with health systems, Accountable Care Organizations, Managed Care Organizations, Physician Hospital Organizations, legislatures, and other stakeholders to establish MIH programs and component services as an element of the overall (IHI) Triple Aim approach.
  
• Legally compliant – through strong, legislated enablement of MIH component services and programs at the federal, state and local levels.
  
• Supplemental – enhancing existing healthcare systems or resources, and filling the resource gaps within the local community.
  

What is Community Paramedicine?

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Community Paramedicine is an organized system of services, based on local need, provided by emergency medical technicians and Paramedics, that is integrated into the local or regional health care system and overseen by emergency and primary care physicians.

Community Paramedicine is one model to realize the vision of EMS-based community health services that supplement the traditional EMS response model and bridges both community health service and EMS coverage gaps. Many different organizations and groups are working on projects to further explore and develop the concept of Community Paramedicine.