The US healthcare system is known by critics to have enormous costs for patients, tax payers, and society in general, and offers less than impressive health outcomes. Frequently recorded healthcare flaws include lack of access to quality care for many patients, billions of dollars wasted due to inefficient or broken delivery models and expensive administration costs; Inadequate efforts to prevent illness and disease; Ineffective acute and chronic care; and outdated and complex reimbursement plans. The insufficiencies of the healthcare system in the United States are very evident in out of hospital care for patients. This is particularly true for hospice patients, the elderly, and the mobility impaired. Multiple providers offer only niche care during certain hours, which does not match the needs for this patient population. As a result of this, patients who require care in out of business hours are regularly referred to the Emergency Department (ED), even if it is obvious that the patient cannot receive appropriate care in the ED. Furthermore, care gaps, and a lack of post- acute transitional care, make re-admissions to the ED an unfortunate inevitability. This is both undesirable and expensive for patients, their caregivers, and the healthcare …show more content…
To add to the EMS profession’s understanding of the development, characteristics and status of MIH in the United States, NAEMT (National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians) conducted a comprehensive survey in late 2014 of the nation’s currently operating MIH programs. The survey identified more than one-hundred EMS agencies that have worked very hard over the past several years to determine their communities’ needs, build partnerships to launch these groundbreaking programs and contribute to solving the key issues facing American