AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange Focuses on Reducing Non-Urgent Emergency Services

The latest issue of AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchangefocuses on the Exchange’s new Emergency Services Learning Community, featuring profiles about reducing the use of emergency services for non-urgent conditions. One of the profiles describes a program run by MedStar Mobile Healthcare, an emergency medical service provider in Fort Worth, Texas. MedStar uses mobile health care paramedics to provide in-home and telephone-based support to patients who frequently call 911 and to other patient populations who are at risk for potentially preventable admissions or readmissions. Four additional programs serve individuals with congestive heart failure, patients who can be managed transitionally at home versus with an overnight observational admission, in-home hospice patients who are at risk for hospice revocation and home health agencies as a support to prevent unnecessary visits to the emergency department. These programs have significantly reduced the number of 911 calls, potentially preventable emergency department visits and hospital admissions. This innovation is part of a cluster of select profiles in the Innovations Exchange’sEmergency Services Learning Community.