The Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform conducted a 2024 sunset review of the Community Integrated Health Care Service Agencies Program. Analysis is performed to determine if the Program is necessary and should be continued, modified, or repealed. View the 2024 CIHCS Sunset Review.
What is a Community Integrated Health Care Service (CIHCS)?
As of January 1, 2018, a licensed CIHCS agency may provide certain out-of-hospital services to consumers in their place of residence. A CIHCS agency license may be obtained by a licensed ambulance service, a fire department of a town, city, or city and county, a fire protection district, ambulance district, health assurance district, health service district, or metropolitan district, or special district authority. A CIHCS agency may be a private company and may also hold a license for another type of health facility.
Annual Reporting Requirement
Licensed providers are required to submit a report annually within 45 days of their license renewal.
Who are Community Integrated Health Care Service consumers?
People who need non-urgent care outside the hospital setting, usually in their place of residence. Consumers may need CIHCS services because they do not have access to home care services or have been denied such services. Consumers who frequently utilize the 911 system or frequently visit the emergency room to address non-urgent medical concerns may also benefit from CIHCS services.
Community paramedic endorsement
An endorsed community paramedic may provide such out-of-hospital medical services as: initial and subsequent consumer assessments, certain permissible medical interventions, care coordination, resource navigation, consumer education, medication inventory, administration and review, gathering of laboratory and diagnostic data, and other community paramedic tasks allowed in rule.
EMS providers who are not endorsed Community Paramedics may provide non-medical, non-emergent services like driving and CARES program services.
Nurses, certified nursing assistants, and other licensed and certified professionals may perform certain authorized tasks that are within their scope of practice.
Licensed staff routinely available
Care may be provided by a variety of professional disciplines: paramedics with a Community Paramedic endorsement, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, licensed social workers, etc.
The CIHCS agency is responsible for ensuring all staff act within their scope of their certification, license or registration.
All CIHCS agencies must have a medical director. An agency employing endorsed community paramedics must be under the medical direction of a Colorado licensed physician. If the agency does not employ community paramedics, medical direction may be provided by a Colorado licensed advanced practice nurse.
Staff must possess the education, good moral character and experience to provide quality care in people's homes.
Other resources
Community Assistance Referral and Education Services (CARES)