The launch of an MIH-CP program is often stressful. The good news is that, by following established guidelines, launching an MIH-CP program doesn’t have to be riddled with errors and missteps.
To launch an MIH-CP program, take the time to get to know the community, build a team, and implement protocols and standard operating procedures. Launching a program effectively requires gathering data and establishing communication with your partners. Though many areas worry about funding, it’s possible to jump-start a program with a grant in many states.
Let’s talk more about how to launch an MIH-CP program, how to sustain it, and how you can avoid catastrophes along the way.
The Best Way to Launch a Mobile Integrated Health Community Paramedic Program
Let’s jump into the best way to launch an MIH-CP program. As you’ll see, we are not talking about the fastest or easiest way – we are talking about the best way. It would be best if you were committed to launching a strong program, as there will be times when the going gets tough.
Here are the steps to launching an MIH-CP program:
- Address med-legal requirements
- Perform a needs assessment
- Establish medical direction
- Provide appropriate training
- Establish program goals
- Make connections
- Plan for the long-game
If you’re curious, you can read this tool kit from the state of Minnesota. It will provide some context and give you more answers.
Address Medical and Legal Requirements
The first step is establishing a “map” from point A to B. This usually means contacting your state EMS office and asking them about the process of starting an MIH-CP program. Often, the state will have a process for helping new MIH-CP programs get started.
When looking into the guidelines for starting a program, this is also a good time to look into state-funded grants. Some states have an application process where they actively assist areas in starting their own MIH-CP program. Be sure to get all the help you can in the beginning.
Perform a Needs Assessment
The first step is to get to know the community. When launching an MIH-CP program, remember that the community’s success is your success. The more significant your impact on the community, the more you’ll grow, and the more excited people will be to get involved.
What is a needs assessment?
This is where you uncover the most prominent needs of the community. For example, does the community have a serious struggle with mental health problems? Do they need help with substance abuse? Is there a serious need for better chronic disease management?
In this phase, you are performing research on the market. You’re trying to determine what the most effective program would be for a given community. Once you’ve targeted a specific need, it’s time to start building a team.
Note: the needs assessment phase is also a great time to interact with the community. You can participate in stakeholder meetings, town halls, and other open community events. The goal is to understand how the community feels about these issues.
Establish Medical Direction for the MIH-CP Program
You’ll want to get a physician on board fairly early in the process. In many cases, the local EMS medical director for the county will also lead the MIH teams. However, the process may be different in larger areas. It also depends on the program. If you’re starting an EMS-based MIH program, it’s more likely to be the medical director.
On the other hand, if the MIH-CP program is running through a clinic, there may be a different physician on board. Initially, you’ll want to work with the medical director to iron out treatment protocols. It would be best to get this started early, as you may need to provide community paramedics with special training before they begin seeing patients in the field.
On top of training, the medical director should also assist in forming connections in the community. We’ll talk about this step in more depth later. Having the experience of a physician on your side can improve your chances of forming positive relationships with other healthcare providers in the area.
Now, let’s talk about finding personnel and providing adequate training.
Training Community Paramedics Before You Launch the Program
As anyone in EMS (or the medical field in general) knows, it can be tricky to find people to employ. This strain on finding good people can also make programs trepidatious about expanding into community paramedicine and mobile-integrated healthcare.
There are a few options when it comes to training community paramedics:
First, if you’re an EMS company, you can consider starting with MIH-CP protocols incorporated into daily operations. For instance, you might work on protocols around transport to alternative destinations. Or you might try building telemedicine into daily 911 operations, allowing physicians to make better decisions about patient treatment.
Second, you can start small. When launching an MIH-CP program, you don’t need to launch everything at once. For instance, you might begin by offering MIH-CP services one day a week. Or perhaps you only provide the services for a certain time each day. Remember that, in many cases, a community paramedic program can reduce overall workload and strain, as there is usually a reduction in super-utilizers, and those with severe diseases are better managed.
Third, you want to ensure that those paramedics deployed as an MIH-CP team are well-trained. This gives them confidence and satisfaction in their jobs.
Finally, realize that a community paramedic program can serve as a recruitment strategy. Many paramedics and health providers want to work as community paramedics.
Let’s look at a few more steps to launching an MIH program.
Establish Program Goals when Launching Your MIH-CP Team
When you first launch your MIH-CP program, the last thing you want to do is flounder in open water. Goals are like lighthouses. They help you stay on track when the storm begins to rage, and they help build a team around a common issue.
Goals are also essential as they give you a way to measure a program’s success. While not all goals are meant to be met, they at least help you keep an eye on what’s possible and what’s not.
If you set specific goals, ensure you have a way to measure your progress. Often, you will be able to tell when something isn’t working. Also, if you have major success, then you want to be able to share it with potential partners.
To track your progress after launching an MIH-CP program, consider a tool such as Julota’s interoperable data management software. Julota’s tools are compliant and cloud-based, and they simplify organizing your data.
Make Connections in the Community
After launching your MIH-CP program, begin making connections as soon as possible. Indeed, it’s great to kick off the program with a grant or other allocated funds, but you will need to find more sustainable income streams.
If you’re curious, you can read this article on how to generate revenue with your community paramedic program.
Building connections with others in the community might be one of the best ways to sustain the program in the long run. Community partners will benefit from a healthy MIH-CP program, making many happy to help support the program financially.
To make partnerships, you should think about the needs of the organization you’re approaching and then talk about how your MIH-CP program can help them meet those needs.
Let’s discuss one final step in launching your MIH-CP program: planning for the long game.
Planning for the Long Game in MIH-CP
We don’t plant a seed and expect a harvest the next day. Similarly, when starting a mobile integrated health program, you want to think about how you can build a strong foundation for the future.
In every decision you make, you should think about how it will impact the program. Here’s the thing with MIH-CP: it’s a rapidly growing field in the USA, but it is not yet an established and widely recognized health model. For this reason, programs should realize that there isn’t much room for error.
If MIH-CP should start to garner a poor reputation because some areas rush the process, there could be long-term repercussions. Let’s go over a few concluding thoughts.
Note: If interested, look at this guide on the best practices when managing a community paramedic program.
Conclusion: The Best Way to Launch a Mobile Integrated Healthcare Program
Launching an MIH-CP program can take on different forms depending on the program’s location, size, and goals. In everything, it’s wise to start with a needs assessment of the community, build a leadership team, train the paramedics, and continue making connections.
MIH-CP programs that go the distance often have a managing staff more focused on long-term growth than short-term results. It’s essential to track your data to ensure you’re on pace to meet goals or know what needs to change should the program stumble.
Contact Julota to see how their intuitive software can give you some extra rocket fuel as you launch your MIH-CP program.