Upstate Family Health Center

Mobile integrated health is patient-centered care offered outside of a hospital environment, often in people’s homes.

One leading form is the community paramedicine model, which uses emergency medical services (EMS) personnel to connect patients with non-emergency needs to primary care and other support services. Although the prime responsibility of EMS providers is to stabilize patients in crisis and transport them to the hospital, community paramedicine enhances the role of EMS providers as partners in community-based health care delivery. This type of in-home service is needed, especially in rural areas of New York State, where lack of transportation options and long wait times for appointments can lead to higher emergency department use and calls to 911. Upstate Family Health Center (UFHC) partnered with the Central Oneida County Volunteer Ambulance Corps to pilot its Health at Home program, in which EMS providers work with primary care providers using telehealth to deliver care at home. In 2022, NYHealth awarded UFHC a grant to expand and sustain a community paramedicine model of primary care in Central New York, using EMS providers to engage residents and provide at-home health services.

Under this grant, UFHC will expand referral partnerships where patients will be identified by agencies serving those most likely to require a home visit. It will also partner with an additional EMS agency to serve a neighboring rural region. Within the expanded service area, when patients call to request in-home assistance, UFHC will send paramedics to the home and collaborate with a provider at the UFHC office via telehealth. The paramedics will help the patient facilitate the telehealth visit and perform other health assessments. This direct virtual connection will allow EMS providers to determine whether a patient needs a higher level of care or hospitalization. UFHC will engage a consultant to develop a case study demonstrating the impact and replicability of the model, use the results to advocate for sustainable reimbursement, and share outcomes with policymakers to advocate for expansion.