MVP Health Care Paramedic Program Seeks to Cut ER Visits
To help alleviate unnecessary emergency room visits, MVP Health Care, a nonprofit health insurer in New York and Vermont, has launched a program to take better advantage of paramedics to provide care to patients at home or at work.
The Treatment in Place program is activated when an MVP member calls 911, and an EMS provider is dispatched to the member’s location. Through the program, EMTs and paramedics in partner organizations now have access to a team from UCM Digital Health, including their medical staff and team of care coordinators, to better enable treating the patient in their location. EMTs or paramedics then work with a UCM emergency medicine-trained physician via telemedicine to quickly treat patients with non-life-threatening conditions.
With a combination of hands-on and virtual care, the patient receives appropriate, high-quality, cost-effective care, without the need to go to the emergency room, according to MVP. In addition to the patient benefits, this program saves the EMS organization from having to transport the patient to the emergency room. For example, EMS providers can rapidly assess the patient’s vital signs, perform a physical exam, assess social determinants of health, or conduct a diagnostic test from the comfort of the patient’s home.
“This program represents MVP and UCM’s steadfast commitment to making healthcare more accessible, convenient, and affordable for our customers while creating new opportunities for efficiencies and savings in the healthcare system,” said MVP Health Care’s president and CEO, Chris Del Vecchio, in a statement. “As we contend with an increased need for healthcare services, Treatment in Place will directly decrease the volume of non-life-threatening emergencies at the ER and will provide increased access to care for the communities we serve. We are proud to partner with UCM on this new and exciting program which will undoubtedly provide significant enhancement to health care services.”
The hope is that with more patients being treated in their location, EMS organizations will be able to focus on true emergencies. UCM has established relationships with EMS organizations and 911 centers across the state of New York, which enable this service to be seamlessly delivered to MVP members across 18 counties in New York, with plans to expand statewide.
In a statement, Scott Bowman, executive director at Valatie Rescue, an EMS provider participating in the Treatment in Place program, said that through the use of UCM’s emergency physicians, his organization has kept 79 percent of patients safe at home, without transport to a hospital. “Our medical providers are able to use their knowledge and skills, along with face-to-face interactions with physicians virtually, to provide the care that is truly best for our patients. This is just the latest step of many advances in the emergency medical services industry, and we are happy to be able to provide this to our patients.”
UCM adds that with hospitals facing ongoing staffing shortages and capacity issues, the Treatment in Place program helps to alleviate the burden on health systems.
“As part of our broader mobile integrated health strategy, the Treatment in Place program is an important step in the right direction to provide patients with a combination of in-person and virtual care,” said Keith Algozzine, PA-C, founder and CEO of UCM Digital Health, in a statement. “It’s really the future of healthcare and we are proud to partner with MVP Healthcare and many EMS organizations to provide patients with the right care, at the right time, in the right place, all while lowering cost and reducing strain on our healthcare system.”
