It’s unfortunate that there is so much focus on response times, when more evidence-based patient outcome data could be evaluated, such as those contemplated in the 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 from 16 EMS, fire, public policy and patient safety organizations on 𝐄𝐌𝐒 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 (https://lnkd.in/gYNjiHgQ). Measures for clinical care, patient and provider safety, patient and provider experience and financial outcomes would provide a more balanced evaluation of provider performance. Still, response times goals and measurements, when evaluated as an 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, should be evidence-based, and tracked and reported from a 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭. Individual time durations such as call processing, activation, drive, and patient access can then be trended over time to identify opportunities for enhancement. ----------------------- 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 County and fire district officials are locked in a dispute over how to calculate response times, a key component in evaluating how local ambulance service is performing. March 29, 2025 https://lnkd.in/g9DxnfMp 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰: • Sonoma County's contract with the Sonoma County Fire District for ambulance services is under dispute, affecting the timely release of performance data. • The fire district is arguing the contract does not cover requirements for low-priority calls and wants them thrown out of 2024 performance data. • The county argues that low priority calls make up 40% of all ambulance calls and removing them from the equation would erode public trust. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭: "When the Board of Supervisors approved the district’s contract in June 2023 after months of contentious debate, both county and fire district officials heralded their partnership as a significant step toward bringing ambulance services under public domain. The benefits would include 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲, 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 and enhanced emergency response." "Under the new contract, which went into effect mid-January 2024, the fire district and county officials must review monthly compliance data and produce a public report. By mid-December, nearly a year into the contract, data still had not been publicly released." PWW Advisory Group
