First Responders in Larkspur Save Time, Lives Through HIE Connectivity

Serving over 110 square miles of Douglas County in Colorado, the Larkspur Fire Protection District (LFPD) has successfully protected residents and visitors since its inception as the Larkspur Volunteer Fire Department in 1964 (officially becoming the Larkspur Fire Protection District in 1974).

LFPD has grown over the years as a Fire Protection District to host 25 trained and certified volunteer firefighters, five career firefighters/emergency medical technicians on duty at all times and an ambulance fleet consisting of three vehicles.

When LFPD became a member of Contexture — Colorado’s largest health information exchange — in 2018, the district immediately began seeing improvements and simplifications to its processes, specifically with tracking down updated documents. By logging into Contexture’s secure portal, PatientCare 360, LFPD staff and volunteers can perform a quick search for the patient in question and gain secure access to all the information needed to provide proper care. This health information can come in handy when LFPD’s on-duty firefighters or EMTs need to quickly secure patient information in the field. LFPD fire chief Stuart Mills shared how access to the Contexture portal has simplified his team’s daily workflow.

“Before LFPD became a client of Contexture, our administrative personnel often had to contact receiving facilities or the contracted medical billing companies to acquire updated patient information, specifically face sheets, needed for billing. This process was usually time-consuming and sometimes non-productive,” said Mills. “The result was both wasted staff hours and decreased transport revenues. Since joining the HIE, the process of tracking down updated face sheets has been greatly simplified. We just access Contexture’s secure portal, search for the patient and we have all the information we need.”

Access to patient history through the HIE also helps with follow-up care, something that Mills feels is an important aspect of his district’s work toward improving referrals in the field and reducing 911 calls and avoidable trips to the hospital.

“An added benefit of Contexture’s PatientCare 360 portal we regularly take advantage of is the ability to perform follow-ups on the fly with the patients we transport,” Mills said. “Through PatientCare 360, we can access a patient’s health status from the time we turn them over to a receiving facility until their final discharge. We can review lab results, procedures performed, ER physician transcriptions, radiologist transcriptions, etc. This capability has made a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of our QA/QI process.”

By providing reliable HIE services to first responders like the LFPD, Contexture is contributing to the health and well-being of the Douglas County community and successfully equipping first responders with the tools to continually improve their vital processes.

Learn more about Contexture’s HIE services or schedule a demo today.