Who
- Alameda County Emergency Medical Services Agency (ALCO EMS)
- Alameda County hospitals and their emergency department (ED) leaders
- Hospital Council
What
ALCO EMS is considering a new specialty care diversion policy modeled on existing policies in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Under such a policy, ALCO EMS could suspend a hospital’s ST-elevation myocardial infarction or stroke designation when the hospital is experiencing prolonged ambulance patient offload times (APOTs).
Hospital Council reviewed the two sample policies and flagged the following for hospital CEOs and ED leaders:
- Both policies require hospitals to submit corrective action plans to their local EMS agency when APOT exceeds the 30-minute time standard; hospitals are then given time to come into compliance before any adverse actions are taken.
- Both policies allow the local EMS agency to temporarily suspend a hospital’s specialty care designation, among several other options.
- Only the San Francisco policy sets parameters for suspending a hospital’s specialty care designation (there must be three or more receiving centers with the same specialty care designation, and the suspension is limited to 14 calendar days).
Takeaway/Next Steps
Hospital ED leaders are prepared to discuss policy options and possible adoption with ALCO EMS at the agency’s next quarterly meeting in late April. The potential impact on patient safety and quality is of paramount concern.
Contact
RVP Rebecca Rozen at rrozen@hospitalcouncil.org