Cities put nurse practitioners alongside paramedics
Posted about 10 years ago by Nicholas M Perrino
"[Anaheim, CA] is one of several [cities] around the country that are looking to provide better patient care and cut costs by having nurse practitioners ride alongside paramedics on non-urgent calls. When it comes to a twisted ankle or minor stomach pain, the two work together to find a solution that avoids a trip to the ER.
Officials don't yet have an estimate on expected savings, but they are tracking data throughout the program.
The pilot [program] aims to help alleviate the stress of overcrowded waiting rooms, an issue that plagues Southern California, as well as other cities across the nation, says Todd Newton, regional chief of emergency medicine at Kaiser Permanente. He says programs like these could significantly improve emergency health care for patients.
The program was modeled after a similar pilot being tested in Mesa, Ariz. The Mesa Fire Department, which began a pilot program several years ago, now runs three fully operational paramedic-nurse practitioner units around the clock through a multimillion-dollar grant awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Mesa initially created these programs as a way to cut emergency room wait-times and save money for the department, but the programs have since morphed into a way to provide better care for patients."