Utah Paramedics Now Access Patient Outcome Data: A Full-Circle Success Story

Most EMS providers are familiar with the lack of closure that comes from caring for a patient on the way to the emergency department, but not finding out the patient’s outcome after care is turned over to the hospital staff. This lack of follow-up can be frustrating and may also be a missed opportunity for both EMS and hospital providers to learn from each other and their experiences. Gold Cross Ambulance, an EMS provider that has serviced Salt Lake City, Utah, for the last 50 years, has recognized this and seized the chance to improve its quality of care and create a more complete patient care record by exchanging data. Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) is a nonprofit healthcare technology partner and standards development organization that first created Utah’s Clinical Health Information Exchange (CHIE) in 2009. The CHIE is a HIPAA-compliant and standardized hub that providers throughout Utah use to share clinical information. In 2015, UHIN received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to advance interoperability among medical providers. This grant provided the necessary funds for UHIN to connect with Gold Cross and bring EMS data onto the digital network. Gold Cross began using the CHIE as a bi-directional data feed, allowing them to both transmit and receive patient data. Gold Cross EMTs and paramedics electronically submit patient care reports to the ...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Documentation & Patient Care Reporting News Source Type: news