Partnership Aims to Provide 911 Patients With Virtual Care

UCM Digital Health and Columbia County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are working together to implement virtual care services for 911 patients to increase access to telehealth and lower emergency room volumes.

UCM Digital Health offers telehealth and digital strategies to provide patients with immediate care, serving over 600 clients and more than 2 million patients.

Columbia County Emergency Medical Services consists of five individual ambulance groups that work together to care for residents of Columbia County, New York.

As a result of the collaboration, Columbia County EMS will have access to digital health solutions for all emergency cases. When diagnosing a patient, 911 dispatchers can assess the severity of the case and decide whether the patient needs to g to a hospital or if they can be cared for via virtual care. In the latter case, and with the caller's consent, dispatchers can virtually connect the patient with a UCM physician.

"We remain committed to providing the best and most efficient prehospital care possible," said PJ Keeler, Columbia County EMS Coordinator, in a press release. "This partnership enhances care delivery and allows patients with low acuity ailments to avoid costly and often lengthy ER visits while simultaneously receiving an assessment by an emergency physician in the comfort of their own home."

UCM Digital Health will also be able to provide prescriptions and referrals for further testing, imaging, or specialty care.

"Ambulance service extends considerable time and resources transporting patients who might be better cared for outside the emergency room," said Steve Anderson, director of EMS and 911 business development at UCM Digital Health, in the press release. "When a first responder crew is managing a non-emergency call, system readiness for true emergencies is diminished. We are proud to partner with Columbia County EMS and 911 to help address healthcare capacity issues, improve quality care, and significantly reduce unnecessary ambulance activations and emergency room visits.”

As virtual care becomes increasingly integrated into healthcare, various partnerships have been struck to increase access.

For example, in May, Blue Shield of California worked with Maven Clinic to provide affordable memberships to a virtual family care platform created by Maven. The platform offers postpartum care, giving Blue Shield members access to a comprehensive maternal and infant care approach.

Another collaboration that also took place in May included Penn Medicine and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, who together worked to expand access to opioid use disorder treatment. The virtual program allows patients to participate in video and telephone visits to obtain same-day buprenorphine prescriptions.