Awards
2026 AIMHI Excellence in EMS Integration Award Winners Announced, To Be Recognized at the PWW|AG Executive Innovation Conference
Mechanicsburg, PA – The Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration (AIMHI) is proud to announce the recipients of its 2026 Excellence in EMS Integration Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement in advancing high-performance, patient-centered mobile healthcare systems.
Selected from a highly competitive field of nominations, this year’s award winners represent the very best of EMS innovation—demonstrating how forward-thinking organizations and leaders are redefining care delivery beyond the traditional transport model.
2026 Award Winners are:
- Excellence in EMS Integration Award: The Sonoma County Fire District EMS, California
- Advocacy in Integrated Healthcare Award: U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, Ohio
- Excellence in Public Information or Education: Medic Keep the Beat Foundation, California
- Excellence in Value Demonstration or Research: Prisma Health Ambulance Service – Mobile Integrated Health, South Carolina
- Leadership in Integrated Healthcare Award: Justin Duncan, Washington County Ambulance District, Missouri
- Excellence in Integrated Healthcare Medical Direction: Doug Swanson, MD, FACEP, FAEMS Mecklenburg EMS Agency, North Carolina
“Our congratulations go to all of our winners for their innovation and vision in delivering patient-centered, high-value mobile healthcare that goes far beyond the traditional transport model. These leaders and systems are demonstrating, in real terms, how EMS can integrate with the broader healthcare system to improve outcomes, reduce unnecessary utilization, and bring care directly to the patient. This is the future of EMS, and it is already happening.” said AIMHI President Rob Lawrence.
Awards will be presented on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, during the PWW|AG Executive Innovation Conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida. Winners will be recognized on the main stage and will share brief highlights of their innovative programs with an audience of national EMS and healthcare leaders.
Click here for a full description of the award winners.
Ongoing Recognition for Winners
- Award winners may be invited to present or co-present on AIMHI webinars, as appropriate, at the invitation of the AIMHI Education Committee.
- Winner and their innovative programs will be showcased on a permanent page of the AIMHI website.
- Winners and their programs will be featured on AIMHI social media.
Award Categories & Criteria
Excellence in EMS Integration Award
External Award | Integration with EMS Agencies | Organizational Recipient
This award recognizes a non-EMS organization that has developed and implemented a partnership with EMS organizations that have demonstrated enhancement of patient experience of care, improved patient outcomes, or reduced the cost of healthcare.
Awards should be based on measurable data that sets a benchmark for others to follow. These awards could be geared to best practices that support AIMHI’s mission of transforming EMS care. Award winners should demonstrate clear approaches to transformation, well deployed processes that demonstrated cycles of learning and benchmark results in the top decile of EMS agencies.
- Integrated Healthcare Networks
- Payers
- Hospital Systems
- Home Health Agencies
- Hospice Agencies
- Other EMS agency partners
- Nominator demographics and contact information
- Nominee demographics and contact information
- Description of program
- Date of implementation
- Number of patients/members enrolled
- Utilization change
- Patient experience scores
- Other criteria/outcomes
- Demonstrates a clear approach to change, with system-based deployment (of process, procedure, etc.) and benchmark results. Winning agencies should be learning organizations that are willing to share best practices.
Excellence in Public Information or Education
EMS Internal or External Award | Communications/PR/Public Affairs | Organizational Recipient
This award recognizes an EMS or non-EMS organization that has developed and implemented an effective public information or education campaign designed to encourage patients, members, or the public to develop or maintain healthy lifestyles, or to more effectively utilize healthcare resources.
Benchmark results demonstrating a significant change in how the public integrates with EMS practices. Agencies that have a clear approach to motivating the public to partner with EMS and local hospitals in obtaining outcome-based results.
Awards should be based on measurable data that sets a benchmark for others to follow. These awards could be geared to best practices that support AIMHI’s mission of transforming EMS care. Award winners should demonstrate clear approaches to transformation, well deployed processes that demonstrated cycles of learning and benchmark results in the top decile of EMS agencies.
- EMS Agencies
- Integrated Healthcare Networks
- Payers
- Hospital Systems
- Home Health Agencies
- Hospice Agencies
- Other EMS agency partners
- Nominator demographics and contact information
- Nominee demographics and contact information
- Description of program
- Date of implementation
- Estimated program reach (number of impressions)
- Cost of the campaign
- Any data on changes in behavior as a result of the campaign
- Demonstrates a clear approach to change, with system-based deployment (of process, procedure, etc.) and benchmark results. Winning agencies should be learning organizations that are willing to share best practices.
Excellence in Value Demonstration or Research
EMS Internal or External Award | Reporting/Data Analytics | Organizational Recipient
This award recognizes an EMS or non-EMS organization that created and implemented an analysis of data and/or research project to demonstrate the value impact of the services provided by the organization. Examples could include:
- Distributed analytics relating to the cost and outcomes from innovative EMS delivery
- Study published in a peer reviewed journal that demonstrates improved patient outcomes, patient safety, or reduced cost of care as the result of a change to a protocol or process
- Benchmark improvement in efficiency that demonstrates a reduction in cost, and/or increase in patient safety with outcome-based metrics that exceed 90% of the national average for favorable results.
Awards should be based on measurable data that sets a benchmark for others to follow. These awards could be geared to best practices that support AIMHI’s mission of transforming EMS care. Award winners should demonstrate clear approaches to transformation, well deployed processes that demonstrated cycles of learning and benchmark results in the top decile of EMS agencies.
- EMS Agencies
- Nominator demographics and contact information
- Nominee demographics and contact information
- Description of data distributed and method of distribution
- Submission of published studies that meet award submission criteria
- Value demonstration of data distributed
- Publication Impact Factor (IF) or Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of the journal publishing the research
- Demonstrates a clear approach to change, with system-based deployment (of process, procedure, etc.) and benchmark results. Winning agencies should be learning organizations that are willing to share best practices.
Leadership in Integrated Healthcare Award
EMS Internal or External Award | Individual Recipient
This award recognizes an individual who has made significant impact on the integration of EMS, or the advancement of the integration of EMS into the healthcare system.
Awards should be based on measurable data that sets a benchmark for others to follow. These awards could be geared to best practices that support AIMHI’s mission of transforming EMS care. Award winners should demonstrate clear approaches to transformation, well deployed processes that demonstrated cycles of learning and benchmark results in the top decile of EMS agencies.
- EMS agency leaders
- Healthcare system leaders
- Leaders from payer organizations
- Leaders from EMS or Healthcare Associations
- Nominator demographics and contact information
- Nominee demographics and contact information
- Description of the initiatives/activities of the nominee
- Description of the impact the nominee’s initiatives has on EMS integration
- Effort of the initiatives undertaken by the nominee
- Outcomes of the initiatives of the nominee
- Demonstrates a clear approach to change, with system-based deployment (of process, procedure, etc.) and benchmark results. Winning agencies should be learning organizations that are willing to share best practices.
Advocacy in Integrated Healthcare Award
EMS External Award | Individual Recipient
This award recognizes a legislator or regulator who has made significant impact on the integration of EMS, or the advancement of the integration of EMS into the healthcare system.
- Legislators and regulators from all levels of government
- Nominator demographics and contact information
- Nominee demographics and contact information
- Description of the initiatives/activities of the nominee
- Description of the impact the nominee’s initiatives has on EMS integration
- Effort of the initiatives undertaken by the nominee
- Outcomes of the initiatives of the nominee