North Shore Health EMS is proud to share that we have been awarded up to $35,000 through the Minnesota Office of Emergency Medical Services to support Treatment-in-Place, an innovative approach designed to expand how care can be delivered to patients who call 911.
For rural EMS, patient care does not always end with a trip to the hospital. Our crews may spend significant time assessing a patient, providing treatment, monitoring their response, and helping determine the safest next step. Traditionally, however, ambulance reimbursement has been largely tied to transporting a patient to an emergency department.
Treatment-in-Place recognizes something important: valuable emergency medical care can happen wherever the patient is.
For patients, that may mean receiving the care they need without an unnecessary trip to the emergency department. For our community, it can also help keep limited ambulance resources available for the next person experiencing a serious illness or injury.
That is especially meaningful in a rural area like Cook County, where distances are long, healthcare resources are limited, and every available ambulance and healthcare professional matters.
We are grateful to the Minnesota Office of Emergency Medical Services and the state's Rural Health Transformation efforts for investing in new approaches that recognize both the realities of rural EMS and the importance of delivering the right care in the right place.
Most importantly, this opportunity supports the reason North Shore Health EMS is here in the first place: caring for our patients and our community.
It is another way we are putting North Shore Health's mission, “Community Access to Compassionate Care”, into practice by expanding access, making thoughtful use of rural healthcare resources, and continuing to adapt the way we care for the people who live in and visit our community.
-Karla, Director of EMS