Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health has been selected to pilot a new care delivery model created by CMS that aims to reduce unnecessary emergency department visits and associated costs for Medicare patients.
Traditionally, a patient needing care would dial 9-1-1 and EMS technicians then would have to take them to the nearest emergency department. The program, often referred to as ET3, which stands for: Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport, allows patients in need of care the option to receive a telehealth visit on-site using equipment provided by the responding technicians or to be taken to an urgent care instead of the ER if their condition is a minor injury or other specific, non-severe condition.
For the pilot program, ET3 is only an option for individuals with certain conditions so that nothing more pressing goes unnoticed for patients in need.
Patients who are given one of the voluntary ET3 options are not subject to any additional medical costs, the press release notes. They are only responsible for what they would typically pay on a Medicare claim.
ET3 was launched in January 2022 and is a five-year long pilot initiative that several other key health systems have already debuted including Cleveland Clinic, Mount Sinai and others.