Great talk on Risk Management by Gordon Graham to start the day yesterday at the Zoll #Summit2011: “Predictable is preventable”- always strive to do better was his primary mantra. Lots more of his advice at www.lexipol.com. Gordon also advises: “Everyday has got to be a training day” – directing participants to www.emsclosecalls.com to share experiences and learn from each other.
In another wonderful session, Jerry Overton pointed out that “EMS is the practice of medicine and needs to focus on ‘care integration’ being a part of the larger healthcare system.” As EMS, we must focus on the “Right Response, Every Time, and On Time” to become a High Performance EMS. He also pointed out that the EMS Chiefs of Canada (EMSCC) reported that the implementation of technology can improve EMS performance and efficiency reinforcing the point with several interesting examples of appropriate technology providers. “Good is the Enemy of Great”, Jerry reminds us of the book by the same title, saying that continuous improvement is critical and that “you can Expect more if you Inspect more” as a manager.
This morning started with a talk on Leadership from Erin Denholm of Centura Health at Home. She started with some interesting facts and thoughts on healthcare reform and its affect on EMS delivery. “Healthcare Reform is changing the financial model for ambulatory care and emergency medicine” she said. The “old model” for EMS systems could be summarized as (volume * revenue) – cost but will need to be replaced with a newer model that is more complex being based on financial penalities for recitivism leading to new rules and partnerships. Erin stressed that the old business model was very “militaristic” (command and control oriented) but that the future will require a more “cooperative” model (based on engagement and encouragement.)
Follow thoughts like these here in summary or by following our @hp_ems Twitter feed live. Also check out the “High Performance EMS” community page on Facebook and hit “Like” to get any updates there as well.
High Performance EMS 