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HCA E&R Grant Funded Pilot Site Featured in National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians Article

The Situation Report | March 31, 2025

The Home Care Association of NYS Education and Research team (HCA E&R) was awarded funding from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to pilot models of collaborative medicine and paramedicine, statewide. Core health sector partners and practitioners from local hospitals, home health agencies, physicians, clinics, and emergency medical service (EMS) organizations are working together to develop and implement collaborative models to strengthen care in their communities.

This initiative involves a multi-year plan that is currently underway in seven rural and small community regions that have developed pilots across New York State:

1. Northern New York Region
2. St. Lawrence Region
3. Finger Lakes Region
4. Southern Tier Region
5. Mohawk Valley Region
6. Hudson Valley Region
7. Adirondack/Northeast Region

The Jefferson County pilot site was featured in the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians for their success in decreasing unnecessary 911 usage through meeting the health needs of an individual in their home.

“South Jefferson Community Paramedics eliminate weekly unnecessary hospital visits: South Jefferson Rescue Squad Community Paramedics in rural Upstate New York recently encountered a non-compliant diabetic patient who called 911 for transport to the hospital about once per week. This patient was admitted to South Jefferson’s MIH program and after a few home visits with the Paramedic, shared that he could not read the directions for his medication and was “guessing “ when taking them. South Jefferson MIH providers set up the medications, and educated the patient on taking them. As a result, the patient has not called 911 again or been transported to the emergency room. Since completing the program, the patient has saved the healthcare system over $1,000 per week by avoiding ambulance trips to the emergency room.”

This is an excellent example of how “non-compliance” in reality was directly related to health literacy, and with the right assistance and education, this person became compliant with their medications and no longer has a need to call 911 for hospital transfer every week. HCA E&R commends this team for their hard work in collaborating with their community partners, meeting the health needs of their community, and sharing information, training, and experiences with the other six pilot sites.

This excerpt of the Jefferson County pilot programs’ success shows directly how the goals of the program are successfully being met.

Early results of the program (from 3 pilot sites) show:

  • Decreases emergency department visits by 61%
  • Decreases hospital admissions by 78%
  • Decreases EMS/911 calls without transport by 60%
  • Decreases EMS/911 calls with transport by 50%

HCA E&R would like to thank the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation for making this pilot program possible, and the seven pilot sites across the state for making this program a reality and successfully meeting the needs of our communities by working together.

View the detailed program brief here.

Check out the full article about the Mobile Integrated Healthcare Umbrella here.

Visit our website to learn more.