Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman recently announced positive results from the county’s mobile integrated health program.
Flanked by leaders from University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center (BWMC), Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC), Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities (DoAD) and Anne Arundel County Fire Department (AACoFD), Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman shared news regarding the success of the Mobile Integrated Community Health (MICH) Program implementation.
According to the press release:
“MICH is quite possibly the best investment in the health and wellness of county residents that we make,” County Executive Steuart Pittman said. “I want to thank our partners at University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center and Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, as well as our County agency leadership, for creating this thoughtful, innovative approach to care for our residents.”
MICH dramatically decreased 911 utilization by program participants – for the 203 patients served, the number of 911 calls in the three months before MICH intervention and the three months after dropped by 70%. Many of those served did not have established relationships with community health services and utilized 911 and the emergency departments as their primary health care. Participants were voluntarily referred to the program through frequent 911/EMS interaction, high hospital utilization, or from outside sources.
MACo 2022 Legislative Initiatives:
The actions of Anne Arundel County represent some of the work that MACo wishes to achieve during the 2022 legislative session. One of our key priorities this year is to reassess how emergency transport is viewed and funded in the continuum of care.
– RESET EMERGENCY TRANSPORT AS A REALISTIC RECOGNITION OF CARE –
Public Ambulance and EMT services are an increasingly important part of the continuum of care for Marylanders in need. Unfortunately, state laws do not reflect this reality – and only acknowledge care delivered by emergency medical staff under minimal conditions for insurance billing purposes. Support for both volunteer and career companies suffers as a result.
A statutory realignment of Maryland’s definition of care and compensation would reset this framework and more properly reimburse locally funded emergency service providers for their care under a more realistic set of circumstances than is currently reflected in state law.
