Williamson County reduces repeat emergency health calls by 80%

The county said it started its Community Health Paramedic program in March 2014, after noticing a need to address calls from high utilizers of EMS. A high utilizer is someone who has made three or more calls for service within 90 days, the county said.

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Williamson County EMS said over the last 9 years its reduced the number of repeat calls for emergency services by 80%. The agency credits its program that operates similarly to house calls and a tech-based health records system for that decrease in calls.

The county said it started its Community Health Paramedic program in March 2014, after noticing a need to address calls from high utilizers of EMS. A high utilizer is someone who has made three or more calls for service within 90 days, the county said.

Those paramedics then provided care to those callers which allowed them to rely less on calling 911. The county said that care often included education about chronic disease or referrals to other services.

"We continue to fill gaps and connect individuals to services while providing them with health education and access to care so that they may live their healthiest life in our community," said Amy Jarosek, clinical captain of the Community Health Paramedic program.

The county uses ESO's Electronic Health Record which tracks a patient's condition and history from start to finish.

Brent Myers, Chief Medical Officer of ESO, said the results Williamson County is experiencing with help from the company's software are exactly the goals ESO wants to achieve.

"All we're trying to do is improve community health and safety with data. The ability to aggregate that data over time and provide actionable output is what we're all about," Myers said.