QUINCY, Mass. — If you get treated by a paramedic today, you’ll get in an ambulance and be sent to an emergency room. There’s no getting around it unless you refuse to be transported – it’s the law.
But several ambulance companies in the state, including local service providers South Shore Hospital EMS and Fallon Ambulance of Quincy, are trying to transform this practice by proposing plans that would allow paramedics to start treating patients at their homes with no automatic trip to the ER.
Proponents of the new practice, which needs approval from the state Department of Public Health, say reducing the number of unnecessary trips to the hospital would lower inflated health care costs and improve patient care.
Read full story: Local ambulance companies join effort to transform EMS system