Southfield, Mich.-based Community EMS, an ambulance and consulting company, has begun pilot-testing a mobile health initiative to use telemedicine to help paramedics assess the health of chronic disease patients who develop non-emergency health problems, according to a Crain's Detroit Business report.
Under the telemedicine initiative, Community EMS and its consulting subsidiary, Parastar, will send advanced practice paramedics to
Elderly patients at nursing homes and residencies are often unnecessarily sent by ambulance to hospital EDs when they have some sort of medical distress, said Sanford Vieder, DO, Botsford's ED director, in the report.
When paramedics arrive at nursing homes they will evaluate the patients and connect them to telemedicine devices that feature high-definition cameras and two-way audio systems. This will allow physicians to remotely examine patients, talk with them and monitor vital signs, said Dr. Vieder, to see if a trip to the ED is necessary.
Besides reducing unnecessary hospital admissions, the project could reduce ED utilization that could lower staffing costs, said Kevin Bersche, Parastar's director of operations, in the report.
"There is no doubt that if we reduce the number of people coming into the ED, we would have fewer inappropriate hospital admissions and lower costs to the system," said Dr. Vieder in the report.
Additionally, the average cost of an ambulance run to a hospital is $3,700, and Community EMS can make a house call for one-tenth of that cost, according to the report.
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