Emergency medical services: community paramedicine.

Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, governs local emergency medical services (EMS) systems. The act establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority, which is responsible for the coordination and integration of all state agencies concerning emergency medical services. Among other duties, the authority is required to develop planning and implementation guidelines for emergency medical services systems, provide technical assistance to existing agencies, counties, and cities for the purpose of developing the components of emergency medical services systems, and receive plans for the implementation of emergency medical services and trauma care systems from local EMS agencies. This bill would, until January 1, 2022, create the Community Paramedic Program in the authority. The bill would authorize the authority to authorize a local EMS agency that opts to participate in the program to provide specified services, such as case management services and linkage to nonemergency services for frequent EMS system users, through a local community paramedic program. The bill would require the authority, in consultation with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, to develop criteria to qualify services for participation in the program, develop an application and application process for local EMS agencies seeking to participate in the program, and to review and approve applications for participation in the program as a component of the local EMS agency's EMS plan. The bill would authorize a local EMS agency to opt to participate in the program if it meets the criteria established by the authority and completes the application process developed by the criteria. The bill would specify the necessary components of a community paramedic service plan to be included in the local EMS agency's application. The bill would require the medical director of the local EMS agency to oversee the local community paramedic program. The bill would require the authority to annually report specified information related to local community paramedic programs to the office, and require the office to publish the report on its Internet Web site.