CHARLOTTE, North Carolina—Atrium Health’s Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) team has become the first such department in the nation to receive accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Mobile Transport Systems (CAMTS).
CAMTS is made up of nonprofit organizations with a mission to improve the quality and safety of medical transport services. The commission has a long history of evaluating and recognizing emergency medicine transport. Atrium Health’s MedCenter Airalso holds accreditation from the organization. MIH is a newer discipline and CAMTS published its initial standards in 2022.
As the industry continues to embrace the benefits of MIH, the accreditation centers on primary and preventive care to underserved populations, with a goal of improving and increasing access to care. It also aims to improve health and well-being, thereby reducing the need for emergency room usage, hospital admissions and readmissions. For Atrium Health, much of its success has surrounded its expanded capabilities to care for patients in their own homes, including its nationally leading hospital-at-home program.
“At Atrium Health, Mobile Integrated Health is one of the paths forward to added value and better outcomes for our patients,” says Jonathan Collier, Atrium Health vice president of mobile medicine. “Now, to receive this prestigious accreditation—having not only met, but exceeded, the standards that have been set—serves to reaffirm our efforts and successes in this space.”
Atrium Health’s MIH program offers in-home care to patients throughout North Carolina and parts of South Carolina. The program is designed to serve pre-identified patients who would benefit from in-home care, using specialized screening software.
These patients are given the option to participate in the MIH program before they are discharged from Atrium Health hospitals or facilities, continuing their care with community paramedics visiting their homes. Patients tend to benefit from cost savings, reduced stress and a faster recovery in the comfort of their home.
“We’ve been able to accomplish a great deal, serving our patients with compassion and expertise, while still bringing innovative approaches into the care environment in a cycle of continuous improvement,” said Collier. “I am so very proud of our teammates—the work they do, the care they provide and the industry leaders that they are. It is a tremendous honor to work alongside them and for Atrium Health to be recognized as the first MIH team to be recognized for its quality and safety by CAMTS.”
“For Atrium Health’s Mobile Integrated Health team, this accreditation signifies our organization's commitment to providing safe, high quality medical care by meeting specific criteria related to safety, equipment, quality, training, and operational procedures to patients in our communities,” said Amanda Williams, MIH director for Atrium Health. “This accreditation serves as a symbol of excellence within the industry, and we are both humbled and proud to have it."
