The $600,000 pilot program will serve residents in Pittsburgh and roughly three dozen neighboring communities for an initial period of two years, according to the report. The program is expected to start in mid-2013.
Patients from emergency medical services agencies, hospital emergency departments, Highmark health plans and UPMC will be given a non-emergency number they can dial for questions or concerns about their healthcare. Community paramedics will then help determine what kind of care patients need. This equips patients with a resource so they can avoid making medically unnecessary emergency visits.
Along with Highmark and UPMC, the program is sponsored by University of Pittsburgh’s Congress of Neighboring Communities, Allegheny County EMS Council and Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania.
The partnership between UPMC and Highmark is especially noteworthy given the considerable amount of recent tension between the hospital network and insurer.
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