“Working together to help solve the problem of fragmented healthcare.” The focal statement on the homepage of NAMIHP’s website immediately captures one’s attention, and while partly due to size and placement, it’s likely the bold claim/call to action that resonates with site visitors and NAMIHP members alike. It is a sentiment that energizes Tim Nowak in his role as an inaugural member of the association’s Board of Directors, and ultimately, the opportunity to address the challenges of fragmented care is what Tim hopes to achieve while serving as a member of the Board.
As an experienced paramedic clinician, educator, and content creator within the emergency medical services (EMS) industry, Tim brings a unique perspective to the Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) and Community Paramedicine (CP) market – one that focuses on a holistic approach toward prehospital patient care and management.
Informed by his experience in the fire service, Tim likened the transitioning fire prevention model of community risk reduction (CRR) with that of CP, the EMS industry’s prevention model. In a 2020 article that he wrote for EMS1.com, “Community paramedicine as EMS’s CRR program,” Tim outlined that MIH/CP programs are “designed to reduce one’s risk of illness exacerbation and the need for emergency transport to a hospital.”
Within the CP program that he oversaw in Florida, Tim introduced the concept of OWNing the program and focused its operations and strategic direction toward that pathway — concentrating on outreach, wellness, and navigation. (This concept was the focus of another article Tim authored for EMS1.com in 2020 titled, “OWNing your community paramedicine program.”) During his time leading the program in Florida, Tim improved the operational productivity of his team by increasing its daily patient contact opportunities by 25 percent; focused the service’s documentation practices on longitudinal care rather than transactional care; participated in the hiring of a social worker to join the CP team; integrated remote patient monitoring into the program’s service offerings; and began the framework for integrating community emergency medical technicians (EMTs) into the agency’s program.
As a new, inaugural NAMIHP Board member, Tim intends to focus on building a holistic approach toward this emerging service delivery model within the paramedicine industry – focusing on how it is EMS’s CRR program. Tim joined Public Consulting Group (PCG) in the Spring of 2021 as a Senior Project Specialist on the Public Safety Consulting Services (PSCS) team, bringing his expertise and close connections within the industry as well as some added insight into the most up-to-date and best practices being implemented throughout this arena. For example, in a recent efficiency study conducted by PCG, Tim offered recommendations for areas of improvement as well as comparative examples for system productivity and outreach. As this CP service model expands within the EMS industry and new revenue/reimbursement avenues are identified, Tim will leverage his extensive network of industry connections to stay up-to-date on new developments and emerging trends.
“It’s a privilege to be a part of the ground-up formation of an association that focuses on holistic patient care … not just emergent patient care,” commented Nowak. “As the EMS – paramedicine – industry and profession progress, it only makes sense that we focus more of our efforts toward prevention and patient care beyond the ambulance. We’re already going to patients’ homes to provide care in an acute-on-chronic fashion, why not target some of our efforts toward reducing the ‘acute’ part of the equation by addressing some of the ‘chronic’? I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with others within this space and to share some of my insights and ideas toward building this holistic, CRR service model.”
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Tim Nowak joined PCG in May 2021, following a nearly 20-year career as an EMS clinician (career firefighter and paramedic/critical care paramedic), educator, content contributor, and administrator with extensive background in training, quality assurance, administration, operations, logistics, and mobile integrated healthcare/community paramedicine disciplines.
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Interested in learning more about the CRR and/or CP service models? Contact Tim and the PCG’s PSCS team at EMSStrategies@pcgus.com. You can also check out Tim’s Subject Matter Expert (SME) sheet on PCG’s website here.
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