Many of us have handled frequent flyers in our EMS systems — those who call on a regular basis, who often have few medical issues to contend with. Most of us groan and bear it, performing our assessment and offering little help besides a ride to the medical turnstile known as the emergency department.
That’s going to change. As attention continues to focus on areas of medical waste, we will need to be part of the solution to route “loyalty customers” to better, more effective interventions.
Oddly, improved practices may drag down EMS finances. Although many of these patients are uninsured, quite a few are covered by MediCaid or other government-sponsored coverage. However little it is, it may be revenue that is lost when transports stop. On the other hand, in states where MediCaid is being expanded, these future changes may actually help with the financial abyss that is EMS.
In D.C., awarding guardianship for this frequent caller sounds like a positive change, not only for her, but also for the city and the system. It looks like a cooperative effort was made to seek out realistic options to reduce her call frequency, and that bodes well. But a longer-term, broader solution will be needed to reduce the frequency of these calls for EMS systems across the nation.
