HARTFORD >> State Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr. has led committee passage of a bill that would allow paramedics to provide patient care when ambulance transportation is not needed.
Senate Bill 317, which has received bipartisan support, has passed out of the Public Health Committee and now moves to the Senate floor for further consideration.
The legislation would establish a pilot program allowing paramedics to provide the expanded medical care they are trained to administer, rather than being limited to transporting patients to a hospital, according to a news release.
Community paramedicine is a new and emerging model of community-based care that allows EMTs and paramedics to operate in expanded roles outside their traditional emergency response and transportation functions, according to the release.
Senate Bill 317 would allow paramedics to transport patients to a more appropriate destination if they determine that a hospital emergency room is not necessary. It also allows paramedics to provide short-term follow-up home visits for people who have been recently discharged from the hospital.
Through this bill, paramedics would be paid for providing limited home care, such as help with medication plans, or assistance moving around the home and accessing social services, the release said.
Recent studies have also shown that these professionals can also perform post-discharge follow-up visits and other health care assessments. Private health insurers are already compensating EMTs for home visits in many parts of the country, the release stated.
“Paramedics are more than capable of providing critical care to people who need help but do not need to be hospitalized, but this state is not letting them do that. Right now, Connecticut’s paramedics are only paid for a call if they transport a patient to the hospital. This creates a clear disincentive to provide immediate assistance in the home, transport the patient to a more appropriate destination, or do anything other than drive the person to an emergency room. In fact, our current laws punish paramedics who do those things by not paying them for anything other than a hospital transport. This bill fixes that,” Kennedy, vice chairman of the Public Health Committee and a healthcare attorney, said in the release.
Before the bill moves forward, Dr. Mary Jane Williams, chairwoman of Government Relations Committee for the Connecticut Nurses Association, said the role of a community paramedic must be clearly defined.
If the state creates another community worker without a systematic, organized review it could prove to be a costly operation to the state, Williams said in her testimony.
“Before Connecticut moves forward we need to clearly define the role, the educational needs, preparation and place within a complex community health care system and we must do this with the current provider groups/organizations who have a vested interest in the health of the citizens of Connecticut,” Williams stated in her testimony.
Thirty states have successfully implemented some version of community paramedicine. Through this practice, licensed paramedics are able to deliver care that meets the need of the individuals who live in their communities, both rural and urban settings, said David D. Lowell, president of the Association of Connecticut Ambulance Providers, in his public testimony.
Lowell said if community paramedicine is implemented correctly in the state, it will not replace or encroach on health services provided by other providers; it expedites appropriate services delivered in appropriate settings; it informs and involves members of the health care provider team who serve the patient; it identifies unmet needs of the patient being served and assists in connecting patients to available services; and it is a value added services which reduces the overall cost of health care for patients and payors.
“Simply put, Community paramedicine works when all stakeholders work in a collaborative fashion for the wellbeing of the patient,” Lowell stated in his testimony.