Monday, April 20, 2015

City of Long Beach Utilizes App to Help Curtail 911 Overuse

A few weeks ago in Social Media for the Public Sector, we discussed the use of apps to solve issues plaguing governments. It's something that is still relatively unseen, and because of this there are only a handful of examples. Interesting enough, however, Government Technology (better known as GovTech.com) recently published this story about a new app that the City of Long Beach is using to better handle local "super-users." The super-user term is defined as an individual who routinely uses 911 to address health concerns.

To give an idea of just how bad this issue is for the City of Long Beach, approximately 1% of addresses in the City account for 22% of all 911 calls- and the top 10% of this group come from a mere 52 addresses. By working with developers, the City created the app AddressIQ. According to GovTech.com, the purpose of AddressIQ is to "combine fire, police and business licensing data to reduce calls from 911 super-users. The tool connects addresses to both the number and type of emergency dispatches. The information enables emergency workers to collaborate on high-usage locations and assist callers through education, social outreach, or — in worst cases — enforcement measures."

Essentially, it provides easy-to-access, instantaneous information to emergency responders, that details all available information on the address they are responding to. Naturally, there are certain regulations that the app must abide by, named HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability App), so certain information is only made available to first responders who legally have access to it.

Overall, the City of Long Beach predicts that AddressIQ could help alleviate already crowded emergency rooms, and help emergency responders to better to plan and coordinate amongst each other and create better strategies for dealing with the City's super users.

To read more about this story, click here.

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