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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Community Paramedicine – Models and Innovations

These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas and provide lessons others have learned. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.

Effective Examples

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed January 2026

  • Need: Meeting the health needs of an expanding older adult population in rural Livingston County, New York.
  • Intervention: In 2006, a federal grant was leveraged to create the Help For Seniors program that focused on EMT training for performing in-field health needs assessments for older adults and the support for a case management staff to address those screening results.
  • Results: Based on over 1200 older adult evaluations and the training of nearly 200 EMTs, the project's results and capacity building became a foundation for continued similar county activities that are now supported by state funding.

Other Project Examples

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed November 2025

  • Need: To bring preventive care and other services to rural Missouri patients with chronic illnesses and difficulties accessing primary care.
  • Intervention: Community paramedics make home visits and provide basic care, home assessments, and medication reconciliation and facilitate telehealth visits.
  • Results: Patients experienced improved access to care, health status, and compliance with medication regimens along with increased patient engagement, satisfaction, and access to community resources.

Updated/reviewed May 2025

  • Need: To connect patients to resources in order to reduce use of emergency services, emergency department visits, and hospital readmissions.
  • Intervention: Patients receive support (by in-person visit, phone call, or telehealth visit) from a paramedic, community health nurse, peer recovery specialist, and pharmacist.
  • Results: Between July 2016 and March 2024, the program made 1,098 patient contacts and continued to see a reduction in emergency department and inpatient visits and costs.

Added August 2023

  • Need: To reduce poor maternal and infant health outcomes and improve access to prenatal and postpartum care for at-risk pregnant women and recent mothers in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
  • Intervention: A home visitation program that uses community paramedics to deliver wrap-around care to women experiencing high-risk pregnancies and/or social and environmental challenges.
  • Results: Since 2018, more than 200 women have been served by the program.
Last Reviewed: 1/14/2026