The Air Medical Leadership Congress: setting the health care agenda for the air medical community

BACKGROUND: Emergency air medical transport provides the means for critically ill or injured patients to rapidly access sophisticated medical flight teams and medical centers. However, issues such as surging emergency medical services helicopter accidents, expected pilot and nurse shortages, falling reimbursements, and new compliance regulations are now threatening these important but expensive transport services. Unless an industry strategy can be developed to address these and other threats, many medical flight programs may be forced to curtail the availability of these lifesaving services. PURPOSE: On September 4-6, 2003, air medical leaders, experts, program managers, providers, and users of emergency air medical services gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah, to discuss and formulate recommendations to address the top issues that threaten the future of air medical transport services. This congress was open to anyone engaged in the field of air medical transport. This historic meeting resulted in a plan to enhance transport safety, foster appropriate utilization, improve in-flight medical care, maximize cost and reimbursement effectiveness, and develop strategies to reduce the adverse effects of new regulatory and compliance mandates. OBJECTIVES: This article describes the significance of the Air Medical Leadership Congress and the 10-Point Plan method used to develop it.