Spotlight on the News
The Mount Sinai Health System (https://www.mountsinai.org) works with EMS and the Department of Emergency Medicine as part of the federal Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) system. Ambulances are dispatched to about 100,000 911 calls a year.
About 10% of the ET3 calls involve low acuity patients with conditions such as minor injuries or patients who call 911 to get medical prescriptions filled or want transportation to a doctor's appointment. Thes patients don't require an ER visit, but EMS is required to bring them to the ER.
When 911 under the new pilot program is called, the Mount Sinai ambulance with emergency medical technicians and paramedics do their standard patient assessment. If it is determined that a patient does not requires emergency care, but meets specific criteria, crews will use tablets to connect to the Mount Sinai Command Center. Then the emergency medicine provider connects with the patient on the screen and provides telehealth care.
The program is then able to help get patients to a Mount Sinai Urgent Care location for more treatment if an ED visit isn't required. ET3 can also connect patients with behavioral health services and help them to an alternate destination for care.
ET3 is a five-year pilot program, but Mount Sinai anticipates that this program will continue beyond the pilot phase and that eventually all EMS services in New York Cite will be able to offer this service to any patient calling 911.