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Caroline County launches mobile integrated health pilot for frequent 911 callers
Summary
Caroline County officials announced a mobile integrated health pilot to send a nurse and paramedic on home visits to adults who have used 911 five or more times in six months; a soft launch begins Dec. 1 with broader implementation planned for January.
Caroline County announced a mobile integrated health (MIH) pilot on Nov. 25 designed to reduce emergency-department visits and free up ambulances for higher-acuity calls. County health and emergency-services staff said the program will pair one nurse and one paramedic for in-home visits to adult residents identified as frequent 911 users.
Holly Trice of the Caroline County Health Department told commissioners the program will enroll adults who have called 911 five or more times in the previous six months. "With this program, one nurse and one paramedic will be doing home visits," Trice said, explaining visits include a physical, psychosocial and environmental assessment, medication reconciliation and links to community resources.
Staff said they have identified about 73 high-911-utilizer clients so far. The MIH team will begin a soft launch on Dec. 1, seeing one client per week in December and ramping up to two visits per week when funding and staffing permit. The presenters described partnerships with University of Maryland PharmD services for medication reconciliation and with Chop Tank Community Health for telehealth and lab coordination.
Funding for the pilot includes a Caroline Foundation grant, county contributions and active grant applications; staff reported a recent $50,000 grant from the Caroline Foundation and said long-term sustainability depends on reimbursement policy changes through Medicare/Medicaid. "We need your voices as well to help us" seek reimbursement for MIH services, a presenter said.
Program evaluation will track post-enrollment 911 utilization, patient surveys on health-literacy and primary-care connections, counts of medication reconciliations and PharmD consultations, and periodic client follow-ups to confirm the measures are effective. Staff told the board they will provide quarterly reports once MIH is running and will share aggregated data with commissioners.
Commissioners and attendees generally supported the pilot, noting the county's limited local hospital access and the potential to keep paramedics available for high-acuity incidents. The commissioners asked staff to continue regular updates and to pursue state and federal funding and reimbursement avenues where possible.
