Emergency care | AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange

Innovations

Community Paramedic Works Onsite in Homeless Shelter, Significantly Reducing Unnecessary 911 Calls and Connecting Residents to Primary Care 04/27/16

A community paramedic works onsite at Harbor Light Shelter, a homeless shelter, during afternoon and evening hours 4 days a week during periods when an onsite primary care clinic is not open. The...

On-the-Scene Video Consultations With Emergency Physicians Reduce Unnecessary Ambulance Transports and Emergency Department Visits, Connect People to Medical Homes 11/05/15

Through a program known as ETHAN (“Emergency Telehealth and Navigation”), the City of Houston Fire Department Emergency Medical Services program uses video and other technology to allow emergency...

California Law Enhances Access to Affordable Care by Limiting Amount Hospitals Can Collect From Low-Income Uninsured and Underinsured Patients 01/30/14

Enacted by the California State legislature, the Hospital Fair Pricing Act limits the amount all licensed, general acute-care hospitals (including nonprofit, for-profit, and public hospitals) can...

Program Offering Free Dental Care in Exchange for Community Service Significantly Reduces Dental-Related Emergency Department Visits by Uninsured Individuals 01/26/14

The Dentists' Partnership in Battle Creek, MI, provides free oral health care to low-income, uninsured individuals in exchange for community service. Approximately 70 percent of the dentists in...

Statewide Ban on Ambulance Diversions Reduces Ambulance Turnaround Time and Emergency Department Length of Stay for Patients Admitted to the Hospital 01/14/14

In 2009, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health became the first State to ban ambulance diversions—a practice in which a crowded emergency department temporarily stops accepting patients...

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QualityTools

Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Community Paramedicine Program Toolkit 07/14/16

This toolkit can help emergency medical services (EMS) agencies develop and operate Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Community Paramedicine (MIH-CP) programs. The toolkit contains samples of forms, documents, and questionnaires that EMS agencies...

Quality Field Notes: Reducing Inappropriate Emergency Department Use 07/29/15

This toolkit provides resources and recommendations for reducing inappropriate emergency department (ED) use. It includes key lessons to begin the process of reducing ED use, information on how data can help to identify avoidable ED use, and...

Prehospital Medical Information System 05/21/14

The Prehospital Medical Information System (PreMIS) is a State-mandated, Internet-based emergency medical services (EMS) information system that collects data on each EMS call report made within the States of Mississippi, North Carolina, South...

Eating Disorders in the Emergency Department: Critical Points for the Recognition and Medical Management of Individuals With Eating Disorders in the Acute Care Setting 11/05/13

This guide for emergency department staff and clinicians is intended as a resource to promote recognition and prevention of medical morbidity and mortality associated with eating disorders.

The guide covers the following topics:...

Managing Drug-Seeking Behaviors & Super Users in the Emergency Department 10/01/13

This guide for emergency department (ED) physicians, nurses, and caregivers includes information and tools for providing pain management care to “super users” in the ED. The guide offers an approach to understanding and managing two groups of...

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