Investigating Informatics Competencies of Community Paramedics: Delphi Study and Survey

Addressing inefficiencies in prehospital emergency care will contribute to increased availability of resources for emergency response, and the health and well-being of citizens. To address these problems, development and expansion of community paramedicine programs are taking place, involving the deployment of trained paramedics for providing care outside of their traditional emergency care provider roles. Initial research indicates that these programs have a positive effect, but many EMS services have a need to develop skills for paramedics to use technologies such as electronic medical records, health information exchanges, and so on. Traditionally, these skills are not within the scope of practice of paramedicine, yet they may impact the ability of the paramedic to practice patient centered care within this new paradigm for paramedicine. This research outlines a theoretical model and methodology for testing the impact of informatics competencies in paramedics on job satisfaction and the ability to practice patient centered care.