In early 2018, my department’s mobile integrated health program signed a contract with a local hospital to conduct follow-up visits with patients after discharge. For each patient we see, the hospital has agreed to pay our department an enrollment fee, helping us along on our quest for self-sustainability.
Ever since the agreement was announced we have gotten calls from firefighter-paramedics working all over the country who are do the same for their own department’s community paramedicine program.
The question we most often hear is “where do I start?”
The answer is with your local hospital’s Community Health Needs Assessment.
The Affordable Care Act requires all not-for-profit hospitals to produce a community health needs assessment (CHNA) every three years. In order to maintain their tax-exempt status, not-for-profit hospitals must show that they understand the needs of their respective community and have a strategic plan on how to address those needs.