Rachel Abbey

See the following -

Funding Opportunities for Building Data Connections Between EMS and Healthcare Partners

Press Release | NHTSA Office of EMS | September 1, 2016

EMS providers often treat patients with complicated medical histories yet have no access to relevant health data, such as hospital or out-patient records, which might provide information critical to patient care. EMS reports also are rarely integrated into hospital records, leaving specialists and other hospital staff unaware of how patients presented to EMS initially and what treatments they received prior to arriving at the emergency department...Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a guidance letter that allows the use of Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) funds for expenditures related to electronically connecting Eligible Providers to other Medicaid providers, including EMS, to share health information.

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Upgrading the PULSE Emergency Response Tool to a Community Edition

Seven years ago the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) began work on the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE). PULSE is an effort to create national resilience by improving first responder access to patient electronic health information they need to provide services and ensure public health during disasters, including public health emergencies. Recently, ONC launched a new, code-only technical solution called PULSE-Community Edition (PULSE Community) that builds on the original PULSE code. PULSE Community enables first responders and other response personnel (e.g., epidemiologists, emergency medical services, and health care volunteers) to securely access vital health information they need during emergencies and disasters from connected health care organizations.

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