14 AUGUST 2017 | EMSWORLD.com
I
n many EMS systems, the role of
medical director often lands some-
where between senior leadership
and off to the side of the operations
division, sometimes creating an ongoing
and almost-palpable tension between
operations and medical oversight. Most
would agree that both the medical direc-
tor and operations leadership should want
the same things: to provide high-quality
patient care; transport the patient to the
next appropriate level of care as expedi-
tiously as possible; and get the patient
there in the best possible medical condi-
tion. While it is likely that both areas share
those overarching goals, the drivers to each
area may not be directly aligned with each
other, and often the desired path to reach
these goals may differ greatly.
Medical oversight is tasked with looking
at the medical care being delivered. This
can include quality of care, medical effi-
cacy, opportunities for continuing educa-
tion and remediation, and protecting the
organization from liability through rigorous
review, protocol development and thorough
HIGH-PERFORMANCE EMS
This is the eighth
in a ye arlong
series of articles
developed by the
Academy of Inter-
national Mobile
Healthcare Inte-
gration (AIMHI)
to help educate
EMS agencies on
the hallmarks and
attributes of high-
performance/high-value EMS system
design and operation. For more on AIMHI,
visit www.aimhi.mobi.
Balancing both perspectives is critical to a system's overall success
By Bradford Lee, MD, JD, MBA, and Dean Dow, MBA, CMTE
Medical Oversight
vs. Operations
EMS World Expo features focused session tracks for
Leadership, Management and many other specialty areas.
Join us Oct. 16–20 in Las Vegas.