When a patient falls ill and needs immediate medical attention, 9-1-1 is often called upon to transport them to a hospital – making the emergency room a safe haven for people. Many of the patients use the emergency department for non-emergent medical or social complaints that could be appropriately and safely managed outside of an emergency department setting.

The solution? “Building A Healthier Baltimore” with Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) Community Paramedic (CP).

As the newest public-private partnership between the City of Baltimore, the Baltimore

City Fire Department and University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) MIH/CP provides effective and efficient care to patients outside the hospital setting – beginning with those residing in the West Baltimore community. Dr. David Marcozzi is the BCFD Medical Director for our MIH-CP programs. He brings a high level of experience, as well as leadership from working at the local Federal levels in projects involving population health.

“Our MIH-CP programs are designed to improve the health and quality of life for our patients, while decreasing potentially avoidable utilization of emergency services,” said Deputy Chief Mark Fletcher, EMS Operations.

The Transitional Health Support (THS) plot is focused on our medically complex population who are most at risk for requiring emergency services and readmission to

the hospital. The THS teams consist of BCFD paramedics and BCFD nurses who assess, treat and document directly into the hospital’s patient care records. A first for any MIH-CP program in the country. The THS program started in May 2018 and has enrolled over 40 patients that are supported in partnership with the UMMC. The wrap around services to support patient health include social work, pharmacy, nursing, dental and a dedicated operations center staffed by health care professionals to link patients to services.

“We want to improve patient experience and try to reduce the amount of unnecessary over-utilization of emergency room visits,” said Baltimore City Fire Chief Niles R. Ford.

Chief Ford said that as Community Paramedics, our team “works directly with patients to identify health needs and link patients to appropriate care services.”

For more information about the Mobile Integrated Healthcare Community Paramedic program, please visit Fire.BaltimoreCity.gov.