Just a few of the ways that collaboration between MIH-CP and Health and Human Services benefits the community include helping people who struggle with substance addiction, assisting with local disaster planning and other public health goals, addressing mental health illness, assisting those with food insecurity and homelessness, and offering preventive care for common diseases.
Whenever there’s an overlap in goals, MIH programs are interested in working with fellow organizations. From primary care physicians to police departments and everywhere in between, collaboration helps healthcare understand other branches and improve patient outcomes.
Why Mobile Integrated Health-Community Paramedicine Programs Should Pursue Partnerships with HHS
Mobile Integrated Healthcare and the Department of Health and Human Services share clear goals. Given that HHS is central to many health programs and initiatives in the United States, it makes sense that local health teams would partner with federal-level organizations.
Below, we’ll discuss some ways MIH-CP can assist HHS in achieving its goals, but in this section, we want to highlight the business aspect of this relationship.
In many areas, MIH-CP is still trying to gain a foothold as it looks toward long-term sustainability. If you talk to any community that’s looking to start a community paramedicine program (or to expand services), an inevitable topic is financing. The big question is: how do we create a MIH model that’s sustainable long into the future?
Thankfully, some strides have already been made that allow MIH-CP teams to seek reimbursement for the services they provide (not just ambulance transport, as has historically been the standard). More and more states are passing legislation that allows MIH-CP to build a sustainable model.
That said, a partnership between HHS and MIH-CP could lead to more reimbursement options, greater community exposure, and improved longevity for MIH.
Here’s how an MIH-CP collaboration with Health and Human Services Benefits communities:
- Substance Abuse Outreach
- Disaster Planning
- Mental Health Services
- Addressing Poverty and Homelessness
- Preventative Health and Community Involvement
Note: If you look at the HHS website, you’ll see a long list of goals and initiatives. Indeed, the HHS manages giant sectors of public health, including NIH and the CDC. While MIH-CP can be an asset to many HHS goals, we’ve chosen to focus on those we think are most suitable for collaboration with mobile integrated health teams.
Substance Abuse Outreach: Partnership Between Health and Human Services and MIH-CP
Most of us in healthcare have heard about the opioid crisis in America. People, young and old, have been caught in the grip of drugs and alcohol. The demographics and backgrounds of those struggling are diverse. As is commonly said, drug addiction doesn’t discriminate.
MIH-CP could collaborate with HHS on many fronts. First, community paramedicine can help with drug overdose follow-up programs, where they’ll reach out to someone in the days after they’ve experienced an overdose. These responses are voluntary, and the MIH-CP team will assess the person’s general health and offer them a pathway to rehabilitation. Often, the team will have a substance rehab professional on board to offer their expertise.
Another way MIH-CP assists those struggling with substance use is by providing education to family and friends about how to respond to an overdose. These trainings typically cover how to perform rescue breathing and CPR, and how to administer Narcan if needed.
There are many points of entry for collaboration between Health and Human Services and Mobile Integrated Health, and they’re all worth exploring in your community.
Disaster Planning: Partnership Between Health and Human Services and MIH-CP
Planning for health disasters is another portion of HHS. Indeed, we saw HHS front and center during the COVID-19 pandemic. When a health crisis like this develops, the HHS strategizes on how to bring the most help to the most people.
Mobile Integrated Healthcare can play a crucial role in disaster planning. Not only can community paramedics be on hand to deliver needed vaccinations and health screenings to a target population, but they can also be on hand for patient surges (relieving staff that may be overwhelmed with a sudden increase in numbers).
Mental Health Services: Partnership Between Health and Human Services and MIH-CP
Like substance abuse, mental health struggles have become a major issue in many areas. MIH-CP (like the Department of Health and Human Services) has a vested interest in the mental health of its communities.
One reason MIH-CP is a perfect partner for HHS in achieving this goal is that we’ve seen MIH’s effectiveness in responding to mental health calls. In many instances, mental health providers and community paramedics work together as part of co-responder programs to improve mental healthcare and reduce negative patient/police interactions.
Often, the MIH-CP team responds to 911 calls related to a mental health incident. Responders begin with de-escalation tactics, offer on-scene care, and follow up to ensure the patient receives a direct referral (and sometimes transport) to a long-term care facility.
Mental health is often tied closely to physical disease. MIH-CP teams are trained to look at the entire person, rather than putting patients into a specific box. When an MIH team responds to a mental health call, they look at the patient holistically, gather good information, consider all their options, and do what it takes to get people the help they need.
Addressing Poverty and Homelessness: Partnership Between Health and Human Services and MIH-CP
Another facet of Health and Human Services is offering programs addressing poverty, including homelessness, food insecurity, and a lack of primary medical care. Some people don’t have insurance, or they don’t live in an area that has the right specialists to treat their condition.
In these areas, MIH-CP can partner with HHS to achieve results.
For those struggling with homelessness, MIH-CP has a proven track record of making a difference. This can take many forms. Sometimes, the MIH-CP team will provide transport for a person who needs to stay in a shelter for a while. Other times, the community paramedic will ask screening questions to determine if certain people may experience homelessness in the future.
Finally, MIH-CP teams can help homeless people who may not have their own address and are living in shelters or short-stay housing. The community paramedic can visit them where they are and provide care.
For those patients experiencing poverty who may not have insurance, many MIH-CPs can still provide consistent care through alternative funding. For example, some services will use grants or partnerships with the local hospital to fund their programs.
Preventative Health and Community Involvement: Partnership Between Health and Human Services and MIH-CP
Finally, MIH-CP can partner with HHS to provide preventive health services and screenings. What does this look like?
Many people (particularly those in underserved areas) have health conditions that have gone undiagnosed. In these cases, the patients’ health conditions continue to worsen until they become a full-blown emergency. When this occurs, these patients often seek care, but by then, recovery is more complicated and costly.
MIH-CP teams can help provide medical screenings for illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and COPD. They can also perform environmental checks on a patient to ensure their home is safe and won’t lead to avoidable injuries (such as falls).
By partnering with HHS, community paramedic programs can help improve long-term health and reduce complications from undiagnosed diseases.
Alright, now let’s look at a few final thoughts on partnerships between HHS and MIH-CP.
Final Take: How HHS and MIH-CP Can Work Together to Improve Lives
The Department of Health and Human Services is among the largest health organizations in the country. As such, it is multifaceted, with many different health goals, ranging from disaster preparedness to healthy eating to curtailing drug overdoses. MIH-CP programs share similar goals, making them a prime candidate for partnership with HHS.
MIH-CP collaboration with Health and Human Services can take many forms, but a few goals make the most sense. Some of these include reducing deaths from drug overdoses, helping with emergency preparedness, offering mental health responses, and helping screen for (and manage) dangerous diseases.
While some partnerships can be complex at first, that doesn’t mean they won’t reap rewards in the future. And, thankfully, there are tools that exist to help smooth out the bumps in a large-scale partnership.
Contact Julota to see how their communication software and data collection tools can help you form partnerships with like-minded health organizations.
