The Department shall contract with a third-party to conduct the Emergency Medical Services Needs Assessment for awarded applicants. The contractor shall be chosen through the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.
(a) Contractor shall consult with the grantee and affected entities within the proposed service area including representatives of public, private, and volunteer ambulance services, county and local government agencies, hospitals providing emergency medical services, and other appropriate stakeholders.
(b) Contractor shall assess the current capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, coverage gaps, and workforce shortfalls of the entire emergency medical services system within the proposed service area. - (i) The assessment shall include the collection of data using common quality and performance improvement benchmarks, indicators, and scoring formats.
- (A) Benchmarks, indicators, and scoring formats to be utilized by the contractor for the needs assessment shall be determined by the Division prior to engaging the contractor to conduct the assessment.
- (ii) The assessment may build upon but not duplicate the findings in the Rural Policy Research Institute's "Status and Future of Health Care Delivery in Rural Wyoming, June 2007" report to the Wyoming Healthcare Commission.
- (iii) The assessment shall address the following components and relevant sub-components within the current emergency medical services delivery system:
- (A) System design and delivery model to include:
- (I) Local authority structure, ordinances and integration with and support from other local healthcare and emergency response entities;
- (II) Human resources including EMS leadership and administration and management practices;
- (III) The level of volunteerism and the potential for sustainment;
- (B) Response time reliability to include:
- (I) The total demand for service upon the system by type, including historical demand and projected trends;
- (II) A fractile measurement of the systems response times;
- (III) The system's ability or inability to respond to every request for service and the causative factors;
- (C) Fiscal structure and stability in accordance with standard business practice benchmarks to include:
- (I) Current system finances;
- (III) Funding sources within the service area, including the third-party payor mix within the service area and the relative need for subsidy;
- (D) The delivery and quality of clinical care and the use of quality improvement processes to include:
- (I) The current level of care authorized and provided based on the scopes of practice established within the Wyoming EMS system;
- (II) Medical direction including the level of involvement and expertise of the local Medical Director;
- (III) Education and training status;
- (E) Public education and outreach efforts to include the support and perception of the local community.
- (F) Public access to the emergency response system.
- (G) Communication systems to include the EMS agency's ability to communicate with hospitals, local and state emergency management, air medical ambulances, emergency response agencies and the support and involvement of the local dispatch entity or public safety answering point (PSAP).
- (H) Integration and involvement with other components and activities of the comprehensive, statewide, emergency medical system, such as the trauma plan and program, or the cardiac or stroke patient programs.
- (I) The level of emergency preparedness of the system and its ability to respond to a disaster or public health emergency.
- (J) The Division, at its discretion, may choose alternate components to be addressed in the assessment on a case-by-case basis.
(c) Contractor shall prepare a written report of the findings and recommendations of the Emergency Medical Needs Assessment, including a master plan for a coordinated, efficient emergency medical service delivery system within the service area.
048-12 Wyo. Code R. § 12-7