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Health director reports EMS call volume up 9% and mobile-integrated care near launch
Summary
John Holt, Dickinson County director of health, told commissioners EMS call volume is up about 9% year over year, mobile integrated health program policies are being finalized with local clinicians and an initial contract with Fairline was signed to pursue reimbursement; staff shortages remain a concern.
Dickinson County Health Director John Holt updated the commission on emergency medical services and health-department activities, reporting a roughly 9% increase in call volume compared with last year and progress on a mobile integrated health program intended to increase care options.
Holt told commissioners the county is "sitting at 9% increase in the last year's on our volume of calls" and said that rise partly reflects lack of a local hospital in some service areas that previously diverted lower-acuity patients. He reported staffing shortages: one full-time EMS position remained open and some standby coverage for school events requires use of on-duty staff or calling in extra staff.
On mobile integrated health, Holt said physicians have received the program's draft policies and procedures and that clinical sign-off was nearing completion. "We met a little month or so ago with over to Chapman and, doctor Freeze, ... they're excited. They're ready for us to get up and going," Holt said. Holt also said a data-collection program funded by a grant would be the final step before routine electronic information exchange with physicians.
Holt reported the county had an "initial little just informational contract" with a billing/reimbursement company named Fairline, which is working to secure reimbursement avenues from payers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and Medicaid in Kansas. Holt said this work aims to make some services billable where they previously were not.
Holt reviewed fleet and vehicle issues: ambulances can cost roughly $300,000 each depending on equipment; staff vehicles and other fleet units have high mileage. He described a strategy of remounting ambulance patient-care boxes on new chassis to extend service life and said remounts typically are done one time rather than repeatedly because of wear on the box.
Health-department services updates included completion of school safety inspections, discontinuation of an in-house foot-care program three weeks earlier, and scheduling of flu clinics in October (including an October 14 walk-in clinic at the health department in Perryton and additional Abilene dates to be posted). Holt reported a successful annual inspection by the state EMS board with no deficiencies.
The director closed by answering commissioner questions about winter road closures and CAD-designated low-maintenance roads that route emergency vehicles around compromised routes. Holt said dispatch and deputies often provide route guidance in adverse weather and the county's mapping marks low-maintenance roads to avoid on-response mapping.
No formal commission action was taken on the health update; commissioners thanked Holt for the report and asked staff to continue tracking staffing, reimbursement progress, and vehicle needs.
