Huron County Emergency Services is collecting data on the Community Paramedicine program for the province.
“This particular data-sharing agreement is between the province of Ontario and the County of Huron for our Community Paramedicine Expanded program," said Jeff Horseman, chief of emergency services. "The data collected will be part of the overall assessment of the Community Paramedicine program for effectiveness. They're collecting this all across the province.”
The data will help Ontario determine how effective the Community Paramedicine program is and help them with funding moving forward.
The program was created to look at how they can keep people in their homes longer and avoid hospital admissions and emergency room visits. It provides support in the home for those who are waiting to get into a long-term care facility.
“One of the big questions is if that visit by the community paramedic or that particular type of visit offset a call to 911 for an ambulance, a hospital admission, or an emergency room visit,” he said.
Horseman added some healthcare data is collected but it's de-personalized. It might be the number of patients they saw with specific medical conditions but it wouldn't identify the actual patient. The data might also include things like the number of patients who actually get into a long-term care facility.
