‘It is working’: Mobile health care program reduces number of emergency room visits, officials say
The sample size is relatively small but those involved with the Mobile Integrated Healthcare program are encouraged by its early results to keep people with chronic conditions out of emergency rooms.
“I can say now confidently that it is working,” said Lt. Eric Christensen, medical officer for the Wauconda Fire District who pursued and coordinates the initiative that started last August.
The program involves 14 community paramedics from the Wauconda, Greater Round Lake and Countryside fire districts and Libertyville and Antioch fire departments, who assess and address issues of frequent 911 callers in their homes.
Paramedics on their off-duty hours visit people identified through 911 data or referred by Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville or Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, who agreed to participate.
Christensen in an update for county and fire officials Friday cited cases in which patients were taken to emergency rooms several times a month and amassed hundreds of thousands in charges. He said the intent is to break the cycle with early intervention.
Of the 19 patients enrolled in the first quarter of the program, 11 were discharged after meeting their goals and 10 of those were not readmitted to an emergency room within 30 days, Christensen said.
“It makes a big difference in people’s lives,” said Greg Formica, chief of the Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District.
In the second quarter, 10 of the 15 were discharged. Overall, 76% enrolled in the program did not return to the hospital within 30 days, Christensen reported.
To date the program has received about $525,000 in grants from several sources for operations and equipment.
“We wanted to be able to prove the concept,” he said. “Now we have a little bit more compelling case.”
A measure signed into state law last summer that becomes effective Jan. 1, 2026 provides a funding source for such programs but the level of reimbursement is to be determined, according to Christensen.