Missouri EMS Association Receives Multi-Year Grant from the Patterson Family Foundation in Missouri and Kansas

Source: Missouri EMS Association

Jefferson City, MO, October 18, 2024 – The Missouri EMS Association (MEMSA) announced today the association is the recipient of funding for $1.5 million from the Patterson Family Foundation to implement mobile integrated healthcare (MIH) in communities in Missouri and Kansas. MIH leverages and maximizes the services of community paramedics as physician extenders to integrate primary and behavioral healthcare. Under MIH, community paramedics provide integrated care in the home and in true emergencies, sustain care until an ambulance is dispatched. While in the home, they perform clinician functions (labs, intubation, ultrasounds, injections, vaccinations, and more), as well as Community Health Worker (CHW) services (patient safety, environmental assessments, access to healthy food, utilities, home repairs, etc.). MIH clinicians link patients to a physician, nurse practitioner, or other qualified provider for treatment via telehealth and eventually to a primary care medical home that provides comprehensive, integrated care.

The Missouri EMS Association is collaborating with the Kansas EMS Association, Mid-America Regional Council, Community Asset Builders, and United Methodist Health Ministry Fund to implement MIH networks in six communities across Missouri and Kansas. Missouri projects are located in Caldwell, Carroll, and Ray counties, and Kansas projects in Dickinson, Franklin, and Kingman counties. Each MIH network is comprised of a multidisciplinary team and will provide integrated care to measure common and specific physical and behavioral health conditions. Projects will be supported with training and technical assistance throughout project implementation, ensuring continuous quality improvement, and to demonstrate improvement in the delivery of integrated care. The MIH networks will also focus heavily on addressing social drivers of health and tracking care gap closures (e.g., housing, employment, transportation, food security, etc.).

“MIH is revolutionizing the way healthcare delivery occurs in rural, underserved areas. It provides diverse, inclusive, whole-person care outside the ‘bricks and mortar’ setting in the right place at the right time – saving healthcare resources that can be directed elsewhere,” said Justin Duncan, MEMSA President. “We are excited to collaborate with our neighbors in Kansas to explore new and innovative ways to meet the needs of our communities, thanks to funding from the Patterson Family Foundation. While our geography and populations may be different, our communities are all burdened with barriers to healthcare access.”

MEMSA believes the Thriving through MIH project has the potential to significantly increase access to care for underserved populations, reduce “no-shows” that can impact patient outcomes, increase access to resources that address social drivers of health, and improve patient-centered care and patient engagement in self-management. Over time, the project will demonstrate that inappropriate EMS transports, hospital emergency department utilization, and preventable hospital readmissions can be reduced.

Additionally, thriving through MIH will provide opportunities for earlier intervention to address risk factors that contribute to the leading causes of death. The Patterson Family Foundation, based in Kansas City, Missouri, is a family-led foundation that extends the legacy of Neal and Jeanne Patterson. The Foundation’s mission is “Working together
to help rural communities thrive” is carried forward through strategic grantmaking and other collaborative initiatives that serve rural counties across Kansas and western Missouri.