Hannah Ostrem

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 11, 2019

PRESS CONTACT
Hannah Ostrem
Hannah.Ostrem@pulsara.com
(877) 903-5642

The feature is the first of its kind to give first responders a dedicated platform to communicate with other out-of-hospital care providers and hospitals in real time.

Bozeman, Mont. — Pulsara is excited to announce that the company has been selected as a Finalist by a 4-person judging panel for the 2019 EMS World Expo Innovation Award.

 Pulsara connects care teams across organizations and their latest innovative feature to be nominated for the award is their new EMS handoff feature. Whereas EMS providers have historically had workflows to hand off patients to hospital teams in Pulsara, First Responders now have the ability to start a case and hand off the patient to an EMS crew.

Simply being able to get the right message to the right care team members in the right amount of time can be an incredibly convoluted process in today's healthcare world. Worse, the lack of a reliable system of communication causes hundreds of thousands of medical errors every year.

Editor's Update: As reported by JEMS.com on 6/28/23, the federal government is ending the ET3 program. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “This decision does not affect Model Participants’ participation in the Model through December 31, 2023.” Read the full article on JEMS for more details: ET3 Program Comes to an Abrupt End. Please be advised that Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Community Paramedicine are separate initiatives and are unaffected by the ET3 program termination.

__

As the scope of practice for first responders expands and they become increasingly empowered to treat patients within the community, incentives like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)'s Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) model have emerged.

How does the Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport Model (ET3) work?

According to the CMS, "Currently, Medicare regulations only allow payment for emergency ground ambulance services when individuals are transported to hospitals, critical access hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and dialysis centers." As a result, most patients who call 911 are therefore transported to one of these destinations, even when their conditions could be treated at home or another non-emergency care facility. This is where ET3 comes in. 

What problem does Pulsara solve?

Have you ever played the game of Telephone, where one person whispers a message to another, who then whispers to the next person in the line, and so on until the final person repeats back what she heard? The final message is almost always radically different from the original information as miscommunications cause breakdowns in understanding.

Earlier this month, The Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery published a research review which examined the impacts of various technologies on the optimization of care delivery for Emergent Large Vessel Occlusion (ELVO) stroke, specifically in the prehospital environment. Because the benefits of endovascular treatment have been established, a new focus on reducing the time it takes to get patients to treatment at the most appropriate facility has emerged.

The report states that "Having early diagnostics allows for earlier activation of interventional teams and subsequently more reperfusions, faster reperfusions, shorter ED triage, and shorter door-to-balloon times," and further, "Time saved translates into disability-free life for our patients." 

A recent study examined the efficacy of low-dose ketamine administered intravenously as an alternative to IV fentanyl in the prehospital environment for severe pain. 

The retrospective review matched patients who received solely ketamine or fentanyl according to baseline levels of pain, on a one-to-one ratio and compared those pain levels to post-treatment pain scores. Results indicated that, compared to the group who received fentanyl IV, ketamine IV patients showed a significantly larger reduction in pain after treatment. Additionally, significantly more patients receiving the ketamine IV achieved at least a 50% reduction in pain compared to those receiving fentanyl IV (67% vs. 19%, p < 0.001).

"Technology is a tool that, when used appropriately, can change lives."

Pulsara's Chief Marketing Officer, Kris Kaull, was recently on the Med Inspired podcast where he discussed his long career in paramedicine, today's culture in EMS and how it affects the success of medics, and what advice he has for new clinicians. 

In the episode, Kris stressed the impact mentors in EMS can have -- both good and bad. Good mentors, he said, can make all the difference in a young medic's success. And, fittingly for Mental Health Awareness Month, Kris urged mentors to realize the potential they have to help other clinicians who may be struggling with the weight the industry can place on the psyche. Be aware of opportunities to help fellow medics, whether clinically or personally. "It's about paying it forward and encouraging people who are trying to build something," he said. 

Earlier this month, Pulsara Founder and CEO, Dr. James Woodson teamed up with Georgia Trauma Commission Trauma System Planner, Billy Kunkle, to present a webinar hosted by Becker's Hospital Review about regional systems of care and how they help improve patient outcomes. The following is an excerpt from a Becker's article about the key points of the webinar.

EMS1.com recently featured Pulsara's Founder and CEO, James in an episode of their Inside EMS podcast, where he discussed regional systems of care and how they impact effective communication. Below is an excerpt of the accompanying article, as well as the podcast episode for your listening pleasure. 

--

In this episode, co-hosts Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson are joined by Founder and CEO of Pulsara Dr. James Woodson. Dr. Woodson shares his expertise by defining documentation and how it relates to good patient care, as well as the role and responsibility of providers to use effective communication and shares his opinions as to why EMS has trouble connecting with the care team.

When it comes to STEMI, time is tissue. But around the country, patients are still experiencing alarming delays in treatment and medical errors due to miscommunication -- even in time sensitive emergencies.

That's why St. Elizabeth Healthcare uses the latest technology to ensure smooth and efficient communication during their most critical cases. And this Friday, February 15th, you can watch how St. Elizabeth manages a STEMI by tuning in to their Facebook page to watch a live STEMI Drill.

It is estimated that today, roughly one third of all healthcare spending is wasteful, providing no benefit to patients -- and that wasted money amounts to a humbling $1 Trillion. Further, studies show that hospitals waste $12 Billion per year on poor communication.  

With increasing numbers of big name hospitals reporting decreases in operating margins, this is an alarming trend. But where is all of this money going? 

“In today’s interconnected and complex healthcare environment, an EMS leader must understand when and how to collaborate, both within the organization and with outside partners.”

Last month, EMS1.com published “The State of Collaboration in EMS” white paper, to help inform EMS leaders about the importance of and tips for collaboration within their own organizations and with outside entities.

One region featured in the white paper was Colorado Springs, CO. The region was struggling to connect the more than twelve fire and EMS organizations and five hospitals (who are part of two larger hospital systems), particularly when trying to communicate key information for time sensitive emergencies. The feature in the white paper discusses how EMS leaders in the area were able to unite all care teams, regardless of the entities they worked for, around a common goal of improving quality of care for patients in the community by reducing delays due to miscommunication.

They say nothing in life is truly free. You hear it all the time, so it's no wonder that the industry just doesn't seem to believe us when we say "No, but Pulsara really IS free!" And it makes sense. We're conditioned to be on the lookout for the catch: FREE when you sign away your 401(k), any assets over $10,000, and your first born child. 

So, we're here to clear the air. What exactly does free mean? What all do EMS and hospital teams get when they sign up for our free Prehospital Package? 

Below is a list of everything your team can do, with our Prehospital Package, for FREE.** 

Last Month, EMS1.com published an eBook titled "Examine Your EMS Agency's Safety Culture to Improve Patient Outcomes."  In it, Pulsara's Founder and CEO, Dr. James Woodson, was featured for one of the articles about how technology is not a magic bullet that can fix an inefficient EMS culture. Instead, technology must be supplemented with good processes, and most importantly, with the right people. Below is the full article featuring Dr. Woodson. The entire eBook can be downloaded here!

Happy Thanksgiving week!

It's that time of year again when we can't help but take stock of all the blessings that surround us. And this year, Team Pulsara has a lot to be thankful for. 

How does your team detect a Large Vessel Occlusion (LVO) stroke? If you suspect a patient is having an LVO in the field, THEN what? Correctly identifying which patients should go to a PCI center could make a significant difference in their outcomes. Using the right tools to reach this critical decision is a key factor in LVO treatment success. 

A primary key when addressing the stroke patient includes standardizing a scale that both EMS and the receiving hospitals use. It's critically important that the findings of the stroke systems are accurately conveyed to the hospital in order for them to appropriately prepare for the patient in this time sensitive emergency.