Community Paramedic Pilot Program Operational Metrics and Impact on Patient Emergency Medical Services Utilization

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medical Services
• Public Health Interventions
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Community paramedicine (CP) is an emerging field within emergency medical services.
• Limited data exists on operational metrics and outcomes for CP programs.
• This study evaluated a pilot fire department-based CP program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if an ongoing CP program reduced unscheduled emergency healthcare utilization among high-utilizers.
• To test the hypothesis that community paramedicine visits decrease 911 calls in this cohort.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of adults enrolled in a CP program (2016-2020).
• Patients defined as high utilizers (>4 uses in 12 months of ED or 911 services).
• Experienced paramedics provided in-home and phone consultations; primary outcome was change in 911 use.

Main Results:

• A 54.2% decrease in monthly 911 calls (31.8 to 14.2) was observed post-enrollment (P=.003).
• This represents an annual reduction of 207 calls across the cohort.
• Longer program enrollment duration significantly impacted 911 call reduction.

Conclusions:

• A fire department-based CP program significantly reduced 911 calls by 54.2% for high utilizers.
• Enrollment of six months or longer was linked to greater 911 call reductions.
• Comorbidity status did not affect the observed reduction in 911 calls.