Title
Resolution authorizing the Mayor and the Director of Public Safety to enter into a Cooperation Agreement with the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania for a Televisit Pilot Program.
Body
WHEREAS, the City and Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania (“CEM”) have previously entered into an agreement for medical direction services (City of Pittsburgh Contract #53493, referred to herein as “the Medical Direction Agreement”); and
WHEREAS, with the continuing health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the City is interested in ensuring that residents and other members of the visiting public have multiple options for safe emergency care; and
WHEREAS, the parties have discussed the difference between a teleconsult, which is currently occurring through the Medical Direction Agreement and involves CEM providing advice directly to City’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services personnel, and a televisit, which would involve a new alternative treatment option for a patient directly with a health care provider after a patient refuses transport to a hospital; and
WHEREAS, the benefits of offering a televisit option to a patient include improved care through a broader range of services (e.g. follow up, continuity of care, prescriptions and discharge instructions) and decreased costs as compared to an Emergency Department visit; and;
WHEREAS, the parties now seek to cooperate to make available an optional televisit to patients through a pilot program that may be offered to patients in the City of Pittsburgh for a defined period in order to permit evaluation of the effectiveness of and refine parameters for this innovative alternative.
The Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The Mayor and the Director of the Department of Public Safety are authorized to enter into a Cooperation Agreement or Agreements with the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania for a Televisit Pilot Program for a term of no greater than six (6) months. The Cooperation Agreement for the televisit pilot program must be approved by the City Solicitor as to form.