Under this plan, calls are not just categorized but also prioritized / Click Image to enlarge

City Controller Alan Butkovitz says the City of Philadelphia could save $320,000 a year by diverting lower priority medical 911 calls to a team of nurses. The concept is called tele-nursing and Butkovitz says it’s being used in Houston, Seattle, WA and Richmond, VA. Butkovitz says in addition to financial savings, it also avoids sending an ambulance across town for someone who could just go to the doctor themselves. The Controller released a detailed plan for how this would work in Philadelphia.

Emergency Call Center operators, upon receiving a call that is not obviously one that needs immediate action, use a series of prescribed questions to determine the seriousness of the case. If the  caller is, for example, in need of care for a toothache, flu symptoms, a bloody nose, or a sprained ankle, the operator can divert that call to a registered nurse who will then recommend treatment to the caller.

The Controller says under the current 911 operations calls are broken down by category, but not by priority.  The plan sounds like a reasonable idea. Can you think of any downsides to trying this? I did look up the City of Houston on the internet to see how they are using tele-nursing. The city sub-contracts the low-priority calls to a private company that has nurses standing by.

Butkovitz who is running fore re-election will participate in an upcoming debate at the University of Pennsylvania.

Monday, May 4th at 6:30 pm
University of Pennsylvania,
Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce Street

Also, We’re putting a Democratic Controller’s debate together. More details soon.

Alan Butkovitz campaign website (D)

John Braxton campaign website (D)

Brett Mandel campaign website (D)

Al Schmidt campaign website (Republican)