MedStar ambulance services in Fort Worth is launching a program that gives patients additional choices besides being taken to an emergency room.
The new program is called Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport, or ET3 for short. It's a partnership between MedStar and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Matt Zavadsky with MedStar says if paramedics determine that the patient does not need to go to a local emergency room for treatment, the patient will be offered alternative treatments.
"They can then do a telemedicine visit from the scene with a special physician who has been trained to help the EMS navigate these patients," says Zavadsky.
And after that telemedicine visit, the patient may be offered treatment in place or transportation to another medical facility, such as an urgent care. If the patient insists on being taken to the hospital, MedStar paramedics will honor that wish.