On Thursday, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced the launch of a new payment pilot that would pay ambulance providers to deliver an expanded range of care services, and to transport patients to alternative care settings. Expected to launch next year, the Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport Model (ET3) is a five-year, voluntary payment model that would reimburse care such as onsite and telemedicine-enabled assessment, transport to an alternative care site, or treatment in place in response to a 911 call. The model will require ambulance providers and local governments responsible for 911 dispatch to cooperate on triage and care delivery and will provide funds to assist in integrating services. The agency also plans to invite state Medicaid programs and private insurers to collaborate in model adoption.
We’ve long been impressed by programs that use “community paramedics” to provide in-home assessment of homebound patients with complex care needs. As one participant told us, paramedics are ideally suited to assess a home situation; they have “seen everything” so nothing fazes them, and patients who frequently call 911 are comfortable with letting a paramedic in their home and are often willing to engage with them on broader care issues. Yet few of these programs have enjoyed sufficient funding to scale services. At first blush, the ET3 program could be one of the most innovative payment models CMMI has yet proposed, with the potential not only to eliminate thousands of unnecessary ED visits and provide more appropriate care in a lower-cost setting, but also to link at-risk patients with ongoing care management and social resources.
HENRY KOTULA 