Preliminary and Potential Impacts of a Multi-Phase Intervention - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Preliminary and Potential Impacts of a Multi-Phase Intervention - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Preliminary and Potential Impacts of a Multi-Phase Intervention Utilizing an EMS-Human Services Partnership on Call Volumes Generated by EMS Super-Users Jamie Baltrotsky, B.S., NRP, Ashley Robinson, M.S., NRP; Alan Butsch, B.S., NRP,
Preliminary and Potential Impacts
- f a Multi-Phase Intervention
Utilizing an EMS-Human Services Partnership on Call Volumes Generated by EMS “Super-Users”
Jamie Baltrotsky, B.S., NRP, Ashley Robinson, M.S., NRP; Alan Butsch, B.S., NRP, Roger M. Stone, M.D.,M.S, FACEP, FAAEM; Benjamin Lawner, D.O., NRP; Robert Lindsey, M.Ed, NRP; Barry Reid, BS, EMT; Jon Mark Hirshon, M.D., PhD
Montgomery County Fire & Rescue (JB,AR.AB, RS, RL, BR) Department of Emergency Medicine , University of Maryland SOM(RS,BL) National Study Center for Trauma and EMS (JMH)
Introduction
Introduction: For years, rising EMS call
volumes have taxed resources in EMS
- jurisdictions. A significant problem of
utilization by frequent 911 callers has contributed to transports and ED utilization, some of which may be
- unnecessary. Solutions to this have
been limited for field providers.
Setting: MCFRS
The Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service (MCFRS) is an all-hazard combination system that provides a tiered emergency medical service response and transport in urban/suburban/rural settings. MCFRS responds to 80,000 medical incidents and transports close to 65, 000 patients per year in a basic and advanced life support deployment model.
MCFRS Fig 1
How busy are we?
Respond to ~ 100,000 EMS calls per year 60,210 BLS in 2015 38, 276 ALS in 2015
Call volume increases each year,
however our resources do not as much
Setting
Past Practice For Super Users pre-2015
Transport to Emergency Department Ad hoc referral to Adult Protective Services
No partnerships with other agencies (HHS)
Feedback/follow-up to field providers difficult
Super User Defined
Four (4) or more calls to 911 in any
30 day period for medical related assistance during study period
Purpose of Study
Purpose: To study the initial effect a new
EMS partnership with our County’s HHS that could intervene with services for 911 “Super-users”, with alternate option for patients besides EMS activation
Montgomery County Non-Emergency
Integrated Community Care Coordination
MC-NIC 3
Methodology
Study Design: Retrospective comparison of
transports before and after partnership
Identified the most frequent 911 users by
medical and dispatch records, and targeted them for partnership with MC-HHS
We retrospectively reviewed call volumes
before and after intervention
Used a new ePCR system for retrospective
14 month study of the scope of the problem that may be impacted by intervention.
Results
Table 1: Data
Results: The highest users (N=14) generating
128 calls in the quarter ending in March 2015 were referred to HHS, which enhanced services available to them. They were primarily vulnerable adults. In the Quarter after intervention, their cumulative call volume decreased to 47 (64%).
Table 1
1st Quarter 2015 2nd Quarter 2015 Change Initial Super user Cohort 14 14 N/A Transports 128 47 81 Percentage 100% 36.7% 63%
Call Volume: 1st versus 2nd Quarter
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 1st Quarter 2015 2nd Quarter 2015
Results
In a second phase, we developed field
referral and e-PCR search programs to identify super-users over a 14 month period from April 2015 to July 2016. There were 265 patients with > 10 calls in study period accounting for 4,393 e-PCRs
Of those, the top super-users (N=20) accounted
for 797 responses.
Table 2
Super Users # Patients # ePCR reports Super users > 10 calls 265 4,393 Super users (total) 2,534 15, 933 Top 10 super users 10 674 Top 20 super users 20 797 Referrals to MC-HHS 71
Sub-Analysis
Five patients
Patient Call Volume 6 Months Prior To Intervention & 6 Months After
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Patient 1 Patient 2 Patient 3 Patient 4 Patient 5 Before Intervention After Intervention
35% Decrease 100% Decrease 93% Decrease 94% Decrease 100% Decrease
Conclusions
We showed that super users in our large system are
- ften vulnerable adults.
A partnership between MCFRS and MC-HHS had
preliminary impacts on call volumes generated by a cohort of the highest users
A second phase identified the magnitude of EMS
patients this partnership might reach. This preliminary multi-phase partnership and its interventions show potential to stem growing EMS overutilization.
More studies are needed to prospectively prove the
value and best practices of these programs.
Limitations
Retrospective review of only two sources of data, CAD and ePCR, and small numbers
Did not identify the percentages of calls for true emergencies versus low acuity
This study supports an association between changes entailed in the partnership and reduced call volumes but not a cause-and- effect relationship