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EMS leaders called on to discuss measures of EMS systems

The EMS Compass Initiative kicked off on Monday with two open webinars, and will feature eight more this week

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — EMS leaders kicked off a public discussion on how to measure the quality of EMS services on Monday.

The first two of ten webinars on The EMS Compass Initiative tackled topics such as:

  • Patient and family engagement
  • Patient safety
  • Why empathy matters

Project Manager Nick Nudell moderated the discussion among industry experts, and featured several questions and comments from webinar participants.

Why empathy matters

During the first webinar, Sally McCabe, a veteran empathy coach and the founder of Compassion2Compliance, discussed how and why the patient experience is being measured in the industry today.

“Why does empathy matter? [Because] In just about every study ... patient perceived empathy results in improved outcomes,” McCabe said. “Probably one of the best measures of a provider’s empathy is how he or she reacts to a person who’s in pain.”

Measuring process

In the second panel, Dr. Doug Kupas, EMS medical director for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, told the story of how Pennsylvania looked at the medical literature and decided to require capnography for all intubated patients, and how that could lead to a performance measure.

“By measuring a process that’s been demonstrated to improve patient safety, rather than only measuring adverse events (e.g., esophageal intubations), it might be possible to prevent mistakes before they occur,” Kupas said.

Upcoming EMS Compass webinars

EMS Compass will host eight more webinars this week that will tackle the other domains of performance measurement. Industry leaders, listed below, will provide input and examples to illustrate how the use of performance measures can increase the quality of patient care across different subject areas.

Register now for any or all of the meetings and visit EMSCompass.org to learn more about performance measurement and the initiative’s scope and process.

Webinar schedule and registration

Care Coordination:
June 16, Noon ET (11 a.m. CT; 10 a.m. MT; 9 a.m. PT)

  • Brenda Staffan, HCIA Project Director at REMSA
  • Gary Wingrove, Director of government relations and strategic affairs for Mayo Clinic Medical Transport

Population/Public Health:
June 16, 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT; Noon MT; 11 a.m. PT)

  • Mike Taigman, General Manager (Ventura, CA), American Medical Response
  • Mike Petrie, Interim Monterey County EMS Administrator
  • Daniel Mack, NREMT-P, Assistant Chief, Miami Township Fire & EMS

Efficient Use of Healthcare Resources:
June 16, 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT; 2 p.m. MT; 1 p.m. PT)

  • Mike Ragone, Director EMS System Design, American Medical Response
  • Brian LaCroix President, Allina Health Emergency Medical Services

Clinical Process/Effectiveness:
June 17, Noon ET (11 a.m. CT; 10 a.m. MT; 9 a.m. PT)

  • Rob Lawrence, Chief Operating Officer, Richmond Ambulance Authority
  • Dwight Brown, Manager - Enterprise Quality Informatics, Mayo Clinic

EMS Workforce:
June 17, 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT; Noon MT; 11 a.m. PT)

  • Dr. Daniel Patterson, MPH, PhD, Senior Scientist at Carolinas Health System

EMS Fleet:
June 17, 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT; 2 p.m. MT; 1 p.m. PT)

  • Dan Fellows, Fleet Manager, Richmond Ambulance Authority
  • Mark Postma, Chief Operating Officer, Sunstar

EMS Data:
June 18, 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT; Noon MT; 11 a.m. PT)

  • Todd Stout, Founder and President First Watch
  • Lindsey Narloch, EMS Data Manager at North Dakota Department of Health

EMS Finance:
June 18, 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT; 2 p.m. MT; 1 p.m. PT)

  • Jon Washko, MBA, NREMT-P, AEMD, Assistant Vice President, North Shore, LIJ Center for EMS
  • Rick Keller, Founding Partner, Fitch & Associates

If you are not able to attend the live events, the webinars will be available for viewing at your convenience at emscompass.org/webinars/.

For more information about EMS Compass or to volunteer to be involved in the national effort, sign up to receive updates at www.emscompass.org, and follow the initiative on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@EMSCompass).

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