By Samantha Malott
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
MOSCOW, Idaho — A bill making its way through the Idaho Legislature will allow EMS responders to treat a patient on site and still be reimbursed for their services even if the patient isn’t transported to a hospital.
Under current laws, patients can only be billed if they are transported to a medical facility. With the expansion of treatment options under House Bill 153, which has passed the Senate, communities will be permitted to set up “community health EMS” systems that allow responding agencies to be reimbursed regardless if a patient is transported.
“The current reimbursement model actually creates an incentive for the paramedics to transport that individual to the hospital,” Sen. Abby Lee, R-Fruitland, told the Senate on Wednesday, according to The Spokesman-Review. “So, for example, when they go to a home and find out that someone needs insulin or needs a little bit of help, in this model they can treat them at home, make sure they’re stable and then leave, whereas in our current model, they can’t get reimbursed unless they transport that person to the hospital.”
The Moscow Volunteer Fire Department’s ambulance company is already providing some of the services that fall under the scope of community health EMS. Dave Reynolds, EMS division chief for the MVFD, said for roughly the past year the department has had a fall assessment program at an assisted living facility in Moscow.
Reynolds said when a call comes in for a fall at the assisted living facility, a medic will respond without an ambulance or fire truck to do an initial assessment. At that point, the medic will determine if the patient needs to be transported to the hospital or if he or she can be treated on site, Reynolds said.
Reynolds said the role of pre-hospital care providers is not clearly defined in the existing law. Under H.B. 153, services allowed can range from giving vaccinations to providing staffing at clinics and disaster response shelters, he said.
Reynolds said the fall assessment program was started on a trial basis after it was determined there was a need, and the department would be willing to consider expanding services if staff were not being over-extended, he said.
“Probably one of the best things about it is that you can shape it to what your community’s needs are,” Reynolds said. “That’s part of why it is such a popular program.”
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©2015 the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho)