Empowering Improvement for our providers, our patients, our communities, and our future.

Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program – EMS Supplement

HRSA Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-19-095

What is this funding received by the University of North Dakota, Center for Rural Health?

The Center for Rural Health (CRH) at UND administers the Flex grant program. On September 1, 2019 CRH UND was awarded the Flex EMS Supplement to address Focus Area 2: To implement a demonstration project on data collection and reporting for a set of rural-relevant EMS quality measures. North Dakota received one of only four funding opportunities nationwide. The overall concept involves seeking stakeholder consensus during the measure selection process, testing the processes for collection, training and mentoring, and reporting the measures. This three year supplement grant period will end on August 31, 2022.

Who are the partners in this data collection project?

The ND EMS Association will be the official sub award recipient of this EMS supplement. The CRH will work with the ND EMS Association and the ND Department of Health, Division of EMS to implement the proposed work plan. In addition, ESO of Austin, Texas will provide a number of services to aid in the success of this project. ESO is a rapidly growing technology company providing software applications, interoperability and data management solutions to EMS, fire departments and hospitals. Finally, identified subject matter experts (SME’s) who specialize in data collection and quality measures are also contracted partners in the project. These parties and other EMS stakeholders will comprise the ND EMS Quality Improvement Steering Committee. The committee’s purpose is to oversee the project; serve as a resource; and, to promote and disseminate the findings from the project. This committee will also select a Project Manager to work with the steering committee.

What is the breakdown of the work plan of this EMS supplement QI project?

Activity 2.1: Coordinate Project Organizational Structure

a. Establish ND EMS Quality Improvement Program steering committee

b. Select a project manager to coordinate project activities

Activity 2.2: Identify Rural EMS Agencies for Participation

a. Identify subject matter experts to participate in this project

b. Select ND-based EMS agencies operating in rural settings to participate in evaluation of selected measures

Activity 2.3: Measure Selection

a. Extract data from both rural communities in ND and the ESO Solutions national dataset

b. Identify currently available clinical and performance measures and rank available measures

c. Host one day focus group sessions

Activity 2.4: Training

a. Train the trainer and statewide training sessions for SME’s and EMS agencies

b. Mentorship of EMS agency leaders

Activity 2.5: Data Collection and Analysis

a. Use ND EMS data repository to evaluate the feasibility of implementing identified clinical and performance measures using existing data collection practices and standard elements

b. Conduct virtual quarterly training sessions using Project ECHO platform

Activity 2.6: Support Use of Quality Measures in Rural EMS Agencies

a. Benchmark comparison of ND quality measure reports to ESO national dataset for rural EMS agencies

b. Disseminate measures locally and nationally to promote widespread use and tracking of improvement trends

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