Background. This article discusses an improvement of the emergency medical assistance system in Lithuania. Health care reform in Lithuania has been going on for three decades, but despite the understanding that the health care management has to be effective and methodologically sound it cannot be characterised as consistent, comprehensive, and well-coordinated. The authors explore the methods of how to adapt emergency medical assistance system in Lithuania to the changing environmental factors, the advances of science and information technologies, and to the legal WHO and EU requirements.
Research aims. The aim of this study was to define the key emergency medical assistance concepts and management principals, analyse emergency medical assistance system models in foreign countries and use the results to create a theory for the emergency medical assistance management, determine the deficiencies in the Lithuanian emergency medical assistance system as well as propose tools to improve it and define emergency medical assistance management subsystems.
Methodology. Research methods include quantitative descriptive research through a structured questionnaire survey; data statistical analysis (chi-square, mean) methods, modelling, and graphic representation. The internal consistency of the questionnaire scale was assessed by the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient.
Key findings. Problem areas of the emergency medical assistance were grouped based on their impact on the social or economic state in the country. It was the basis of the improvement of the emergency medical assistance management and integration. A model for the management of the emergency medical assistance system in Lithuania has been developed and based on the system principle where integral parts are linked by internal relations between health care management subjects; resources; and outcomes. Five subsystems: supervision of emergency medical assistance, patient inter-hospital transportation, information, and patient flow management, as well as the public education and information have been defined.
