Mobile Healthcare does house calls

MIH team at Monadnock Community Hospital

Monadnock Community Hospital (MCH) in Peterborough, New Hampshire has enacted a mobile healthcare program to close care gaps in nearby rural communities.

The Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) program was launched by the 25-bed critical access hospital in 2020, and the team now includes two board-certified community paramedics who provide care in patients’ homes, plus a project manager, dispatcher and medical director.

Patients give the MIH program high marks for quality of care, promptness, ease of scheduling, and respect and compassion shown by the providers, officials said.

WHAT’S THE IMPACT

The MCH community paramedics collect all types of laboratory specimens, place Foley catheters, address wound care, evaluate home safety, provide health education, administer immunizations and medications, and manage medical equipment needed for chronic health issues – services that go beyond those of a traditional paramedic, MCH said.

The team also can help facilitate a patient’s telehealth visit with their primary care physician by obtaining vital signs, laboratory samples and other information that a standard telehealth visit doesn’t provide, MCH said.

The hospital emphasized that its MIH program is “not a substitute for home healthcare, emergency medical services or any other service” available in the community. Instead, the team works in collaboration with those organizations “to ensure services are not duplicated and to prevent gaps within services.”

Another part of the MIH program at MCH is Cradle Monadnock, launching this year. Anyone giving birth at MCH is automatically enrolled in this program but can opt out anytime. The MIH team makes pre- and post-delivery home visits to evaluate the health of the mother and newborn, connect families to community resources and social support, and offer practical advice and health education – such as discussing safe sleeping practices for babies and age-appropriate development.

All of that helps parents navigate the challenges of early parenthood, MCH said.

THE LARGER TREND

Homecare is facing challenges. None are new. Reimbursement rates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are low, and staffing shortages are high, as is demand for home health services due to a rising elderly demographic.

Josh Klein, founder and CEO of Emerest, said the way to keep patient care quality high is to create patient communities and to make his employees, the caregivers, feel like they’re a part of the healthcare ecosystem.

Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.