Feasibility Of A Community Paramedicine Program In New Castle County, Delaware
Date
2016-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
With many people throughout the United States over utilizing the emergency
department, costs are rising, and patient satisfaction is falling. Many solutions have
been attempted, but the problem persists. A new solution, Community Paramedicine,
is growing in popularity across the nation. No such program has been attempted in
New Castle County, Delaware. This thesis examined the population of the county,
and analyzed Medicaid data to propose a Community Paramedicine pilot program.
Census data for New Castle County and the United States as a whole were compared
to provide a clear picture of the population of New Castle County in comparison to the
nation. Medicaid data was then collected from the University of Delaware’s database.
The data was ordered by ICD 9 Codes to determine a disease population for which to
attempt a pilot protocol for a Community Paramedicine program. The Medicaid data
indicated that a common disease that generates Medicaid claims is asthma. This
would be a good disease to focus on for the pilot protocol because it is chronic in
nature and without proper management, it can flare up and a life-threatening situation
can arise. An analysis of the number of claims per patient revealed that a small
percentage of the Medicaid population created an incredibly large portion of the
claims. This group of high utilizers would also benefit greatly from such a program.
The data also revealed that Medicaid patients who self reported themselves as being
“black” generated twice as many claims as would be expected based on the percentage
of the population that they represent.
Description
Keywords
new castle county, delaware, paramedicine, exercise science