It’s long been clear that most 911 calls don’t require a trip to the hospital!
Houston’s telemedicine system may be a model for paramedics around America for cutting the number of those very expansive trips.
Governing.com reports:
“In 2014, the city launched a telemedicine service that has reduced 80 percent of the number of unnecessary emergency visits. The program is called ETHAN, which stands for Emergency TeleHealth and Navigation. It works like this: When paramedics arrive at the scene of an emergency and realize a patient doesn’t need to be rushed to a hospital, they use a tablet to video chat with a specialist. For instance, a patient can chat with a nurse to get a prescription refilled or get an appointment scheduled on the spot with their primary care doctor for joint pain.”
The program is said to have prevented 6,000 unnecessary ER transports. The average teleconference visit is only about seven minutes, and the cost of treating a patient virtually is around $220 — way less than the $2,200 to transport someone to the ER, Governing reported.
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