Telehealth in Home-Based Primary Care May Expand Career Paths for Emergency Medical Technicians
A growing body of literature supports emergency medical services (EMS) personnel acting in expanded roles to address acute conditions in the prehospital setting. While paramedic-based programs have shown great promise, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), who make up a larger percentage of the total number of nationally certified EMS personnel, are far less utilized. The article explores a telehealth care delivery model utilizing
emergency medical technicians (EMTs) as a primary care provider (PCP) in home-based primary care and in an Emergency Medicine Service agency in New York. The Mobile Telemedicine Technician (MTT) model used EMTs with additional training as telehealth facilitators who examined patients in the home and connected them with their remotely located PCPs. The analysis presents EMTs perceptions of the Mobile Telemedicine Technician (MTT) program that encouraged building clinical expertise and
relationships with patients.
The results elucidate the desire for expanding models of this kind and opportunities to learn new concepts like palliative care medicine. Models such as the MTT program could increase HBPC workforce and help retain a wealth of knowledge. However, continued and permanent regulatory changes will be necessary for long-term sustainability of this and other innovative EMT-based models.
Authors: Karen Abrashkin, A. Camille McBride, Olushola Latus-Olaifa, Jonathan Washko, Jonathan Berkowitz, Jill Slaboda, Trever Ball, Amparo Abel-Bey.