Audit recommends improvements to Utah’s emergency medical transportation system
Nov 20, 2024, 7:35 PM
An ambulance is pictured at the Grand County Emergency Medical Services headquarters in Moab on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A legislative audit recommends improvements for Utah’s emergency medical transportation system after hospital administrators complained about the quality of care patients receive while being transferred between facilities.
Utah’s system of emergency transportation gives cities and counties the power to determine who provides ambulance service for responding to 911 calls, but “historical licenses” dictate who provides service for so-called “interfacility transfers” — when patients are transported between medical facilities.
Among other things, legislative auditors recommend lawmakers consider changing state law to give municipalities discretion over providers who transfer patients in hopes of increasing accountability when things go wrong.
“We found that existing channels to hold EMS agencies accountable are available but are not being used by hospitals,” the report states. “We also found that these channels could be improved, local accountability could be bolstered, and statute could be clarified to improve accountability for EMS agencies to ensure patients receive the highest-quality care possible.”
Hospital staff noted concerns with auditors, including a ground ambulance with wall connections that were not functioning, which meant a patient did not receive appropriate oxygen flow during transport; a wintertime transport on an ambulance with a failed heating system; and “numerous complaints about poor communication from dispatch and long wait times for an ambulance to arrive to transfer a patient.”
Auditors reported their findings to the Legislative Audit Subcommittee on Tuesday afternoon, noting that ambulance providers receive up to 60% of their revenue through interfacility transfers. Better oversight of that side of the business is thought to provide a boost to other emergency services.
The report detailed five recommendations for the accountability of emergency services.
