Anaheim officials announced a partnership Wednesday with Kaiser Permanente Orange County, an ambulance company and an area emergency services dispatching firm, a pact designed to send a nurse practitioner to less- serious medical calls to free up paramedics for more urgent matters.
The public-private partnership with Kaiser, Care Ambulance Service and Metro Net Fire Authority is also aimed at saving money for taxpayers and patients who would otherwise be taken to an emergency room instead of receiving treatment at the scene from a nurse, according to Anaheim police Lt. Eric Trapp, who is also a spokesman for the city’s fire department.
The city started the pilot program May 31 and plans to operate it for a year before making a recommendation on whether to continue it, Anaheim Fire Chief Randy Bruegman said.
In the past, the city would send out a full unit of three or four firefighters with a paramedic to any medical call. Now, a nurse practitioner and paramedic respond to less urgent calls, Bruegman said.
A nurse practitioner, who has more training than a standard nurse and is one notch below a doctor, can do many things a paramedic can’t on medical calls, Bruegman said.
“A nurse practitioner can do suturing,” for instance, he said. “And they can dispense some level of medication or they can call the primary care physician and talk to the physician on the phone while with a patient getting some history.”
The program is modeled after one in Mesa, Ariz., Bruegman said. Dr. Gary A. Smith, who helped mount the program in Mesa, is helping shepherd Anaheim’s version of it.
The federal health care law prompted Anaheim officials to research how it would affect their paramedic service, Bruegman said. That research led them to what was happening in Mesa, he added.
In Mesa last year, officials believe they saved the health-care system about $4 million with the program, Bruegman said.
Many patients who dial 911 are repeat customers with substance abuse issues or chronic illnesses, and they often wait for an emergency before calling for help — using the 911 system as their primary care process, Bruegman said.
“We may see someone five, 10 or even 15 times a year,” the chief said. “Mesa has already found that with a nurse practitioner they can get into the health-care system with the appropriate level of help. And, frankly, we just can’t spend that much time with them. We have to be available for the next call.”
Mesa has also seen wait times at emergency rooms significantly reduced, Bruegman said.
— City News Service