CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A new state law is looking to provide some relief for emergency services across the Mountain State.
13 News reporter Rachel Pellegrino spotlighted the ongoing emergency care crisis in January. Statistics obtained by a Freedom of Information Request showed it’s become an ambulance gridlock of sorts at hospitals, with patients waiting on stretchers for sometimes hours.
Emergency care crisis: Ambulances held ‘hostage’ at West Virginia hospitals
A new “treat in place” protocol took effect on May 1, 2024, to help combat that issue and alleviate long emergency room wait times, according to the West Virginia Department of Health (WVDH).
“When we look at the opportunity to expand services and make things work a little better not only for our folks in West Virginia but also for our medical professionals it’s a win,” said Dr. Sherri Young, WVDH Secretary.
Instead of taking every patient to the hospital, some will be able to qualify for “treat in place” care, meaning they can receive treatment wherever they are at the time.
According to WV EMS Coalition and WVDH, patients must refuse transport and have one of the following conditions to be treated in place: diabetes – hypoglycemia, asthma/COPD, seizure disorders, overdoses or they must be a cease efforts patient.
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The initiative will also allow EMS providers to still be compensated without taking a patient to the hospital, which previously wasn’t the case.
“Basically, it’s lost in the medical care service,” Young said. “They provide that service but they could not bill for that service unless they transport the patient to the hospital.”
Residents with Medicaid and a private insurance provider will be reimbursed for “treat in place” services, but Young said they’re still working with Medicare as part of the treatment process to be reimbursed.
According to statistics from WV EMS Coalition, Medicaid and private insurance providers cover about 46% of West Virginia’s population.
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While the initiative looks to help get ambulances back in service, Chris Hall, WV EMS Coalition Executive Director, said the reimbursement for services assists with other underlying issues like lack of staffing and funding.
“The biggest issue right now really is the lack of available EMS personnel,” Hall said. “When there’s not an ambulance available to dispatch, there’s usually a truck available. but we don’t have the EMS workers to put on that truck to dispatch them and respond.”
Hall said the “treat in place” protocol is especially beneficial for rural West Virginia.
“We have a number of counties in West Virginia where they don’t have a hospital. So, when that ambulance is taking a patient to an ER, they’re actually taking that whole ambulance out of that local county and community,” Hall said. “So, anything we can do to keep that ambulance local is going to improve patient care.”
Young said there’s a second part of the bill that Governor Jim Justice passed that hasn’t taken effect yet, which provides a third option for EMS providers: alternative destination.
That means patients can be taken to a lower-acuity facility like an urgent care.