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Rural hospital closures strain community ambulance services
Rural hospital closures force patients in affected communities to travel longer distances for specialized or emergency care. A new study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health shows that such closures place similar strain on emergency medical service (EMS) providers trying to get patients to the hospital or another facility as quickly as possible.
EMS services in rural areas are provided by municipal agencies – such as police, firefighting and community volunteer organizations – or private companies that bid to offer transportation for a contracted period of time.
To learn more, Nikpay and her research team searched publically available data for the locations of recent rural hospital closures across the U.S occurring in 2012-2018 and the names of EMS providers in those counties. The researchers then scoured Medicare payment data for EMS trip charges to patients in those areas during that t
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The steep rise in rural hospital closures over the past decade is hurting many emergency medical service providers, worrying public experts tracking response times.
The average length of ambulance trips increased by 22% among municipally-run, EMS agencies and 10% among privately-owned providers between 2012 and 2018 in locations where a recent rural hospital closure took place, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
The actual number of trips those providers made did not change during the study period. But the analysis found rural EMS providers decreased their number of non-emergency and inter-facility transfer trips by 31%. Lead study author Sayeh Nikpay, associate professor in the division of health policy and management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, said the drop in planned trips made it harder for EMS providers to dispatch ambulances in a way that ensured commun
PolitiFact s ruling: Mostly False
Here s why: A Republican running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina says Joe Biden is already raising drug prices for some of the most vulnerable Americans.
Former Congressman Mark Walker hopes to replace U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, who won’t seek reelection next year.
Two days after Biden’s inauguration, Walker took aim at the new Democratic president. The disdain for President Trump and his accomplishments are so deep that President Biden is raising the prices of insulin and Epi-Pens on those with high costs and the uninsured, Walker tweeted.
He linked to this story by Modern Healthcare. Walker’s claim is similar to others that have been fact-checked by PolitiFact and other media.