Community Paramedicine/MIH

Recently, the Minnesota Department of Health released a Community Paramedicine (CP) Toolkit.  The kit is intended to be a resource for Minnesota ambulance services, hospitals, and other stakeholders considering the development or expansion of a community paramedicine program.

The Toolkit contains a series of helpful tools and resources that can be used by a wide variety of stakeholders, but primarily prospective employers interested in hiring and integrating (CP) into their organization. While the Toolkit contains information reflecting the current state of the profession in Minnesota, not all aspects of the CP profession are defined in the state.  Statute, policy, and procedure defining the profession will continue to evolve.

The tools contained in the Toolkit are intended to be both actionable and measurable, and will help streamline an employer’s decision-making and, hopefully, the successful adoption of a community paramedicine program. The Toolkit also includes references, resources and examples to help planners get started quickly.  >> Click to download the Toolkit.

Minnesota began several years ago with its introduction of Community Paramedicine.  Wisconsin has had a few ambulance services integrate a variety of Community Paramedicine delivery methods; however, most of them have targeted reducing repeat callers into 911 systems for an ambulance. 

Wisconsin's fire and EMS stakeholders, including PAAW, have prepared a bill draft and vetted it among stakeholders the past many months.  They intend to ask legislators to introduce the bill draft this February, so Community Paramedicine is formally recognized by the state.  With the Governor's signature, the bill becomes law allowing Wisconsin's ambulance services and other providers to bill Medicare for CP services provided.