2010 Prediction: Budget Declines in municipal public services agencies: shortfalls in tax revenue and increased pressure to justify/cut personnel, facilities, and equipment. Public tax based services will be forced to refocus their mission.
Accuracy: 70%. The topic of public service budgets continues to circulate with various intensity and emotion. Much discussion and mainstream media attention tuned towards pay and benefits throughout the year. Here in last few months of 2010, more attention has been directed to responses and the number of employees. Budget scrutiny seems to be hit or miss.
2010 Prediction: Reduction in health care reimbursement, scrutiny of public service budget (fire and EMS) and justification of services - evidence based fee for services (I might predict a decline in fire service EMS...don't know if I want to mention that at this time)
Accuracy: 50%. Not as much of an issue as I would have thought this year. But as noted above, this issue is not going away.
2010 Prediction: EMS role in community health:
EMS responders will take more work doing community-based health - for homeless and home confined populations. EMS will also have an increased interaction with at-risk or special needs populations.
Accuracy: 0% Totally ignored. Nothing happened with this at all...but, I wish it would! Should we keep this on the list for 2011?
2010 Prediction: An increased number of walk-in care centers, urgent care centers, and retail health care clinics will impact health care delivery in general and EMS. Taking patients to them and picking people up from them.
Accuracy: 80% I think I hit this one pretty close. Events and requests for service at walk in centers has increased as have the number of these centers. Both factors point to the fact that people are willing to forgo a trip to the family doc in favor of a walk-in/urgent care center.
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