Advanced Provider Response Unit

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The utilization of Emergency Rooms (ER) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has been rising steadily for more than two decades, and the current safety net system of emergency medical care delivery is unsustainable. While utilization has substantially increased, the acuity of patients accessing the system has not increased, with approximately 3% of ER patients requiring critical care and only 15% of ER patients requiring hospital admission. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (Department) hypothesized that we could identify low acuity patients in the field, assess and manage simple needs, and refer them to appropriate levels of care with low recidivism and high satisfaction. The program went live in November 2019, but it became invaluable to the Department once the COVID-19 pandemic set in in March 2020. Once Los Angeles County (County) began to experience COVID-19 surges, it became exceedingly important to reserve limited ER space for patients that needed that level of care. To date, the Advanced Provider Response Unit (APRU) has managed more than 1,000 patients successfully.