Pilot connects patients to right healthcare resources
Brian Coddington, Communications Director, 625.6740
Monday, March 13, 2017 at 1 p.m.
Today, Spokane Mayor David Condon joined numerous community partners and the Spokane Fire Department (SFD) to announce a new collaborative pilot program, Spokane Ride to Care, which provides alternative transportation and destinations for individuals that have low-acuity conditions.
Spokane Ride to Care is a non-emergency medical service that transports people with low-acuity conditions to urgent care clinics in vehicles other than ambulances. Only individuals who have been thoroughly assessed by paramedics/emergency medical technicians and have been determined to have these low-level conditions are referred to the voluntary program, which is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week.
“Medical responses are the overwhelming majority of the calls the Spokane Fire Department receives for service, and non-emergency medical cases are the fastest growing call area,” Condon said. “We are working with our community partners to advance how we provide medical services to meet the changing community needs and improve the quality of care.”
The Spokane Ride to Care program was one of the 15 emergency services recommendations made by the Mayor’s Task Force on Fire and EMS, which included community, service provider, city staff, labor and elected representatives.
“We believe Spokane Ride to Care will have a clear impact on improving the overall healthcare experience for our community and help us manage the strain that the ever-increasing number of low-acuity cases place on our emergency healthcare resources and first responders,” says interim Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer. “This patient-centered approach may also help control rising health care costs by getting the right patient to the right health care resource in a timely manner.”
The pilot program will be evaluated after six months by the Spokane Regional Health District to determine if the program is effective and meets the health care needs of people with low-acuity conditions.
“This truly is a collaborative effort to meet a community need,” says SNAP CEO Julie Honekamp. “We are fortunate to work with 13 partners who recognize the benefits of the Spokane Ride to Care program and have committed sufficient funds to conduct the six-month pilot, fund the independent evaluation and pay for the transportation service.”
The Spokane Ride to Care program is the result of partnerships with:
Amerigroup Washington, Community Health Plan of Washington, Coordinated Care, Empire Health Foundation, Kaiser Permanente (formerly Group Health), Health Sciences & Services Authority of Spokane County (HSSA), Premera Blue Cross, Providence Health Care, SNAP, the Spokane Fire Department, United Healthcare and the Washington State Department of Commerce.
