What Is the Potential of Community Paramedicine to Fill Rural Health Care Gaps?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Healthcare Management
• Rural Health Services

Background:

• Community paramedicine (CP) utilizes emergency medical services (EMS) to improve healthcare access in rural settings.
• Challenges in rural areas include limited access to primary care and public health services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the goals, activities, and outcomes of 31 rural-serving CP programs.
• To understand the target populations and referral networks of these programs.

Main Methods:

• Structured interviews with leaders of 31 rural CP programs.
• Review of program documents.

Main Results:

• Common goals: chronic disease management (90.3%), reducing ED visits (83.9%), hospital admissions (83.9%), and costs (83.9%).
• Target populations: chronically ill (90.3%), post-discharge patients (80.6%), frequent EMS users (64.5%).
• Referral partners: primary care (67.7%), hospitals (54.8%), home health (38.7%).

Conclusions:

• CP programs aim to shift care to lower-cost settings and serve vulnerable populations.
• Reported outcomes are promising, but rigorous evaluation methods are lacking.
• Further evidence is required to confirm the safety, effectiveness, and economic viability of CP programs.