In 2020, I created Austin’s Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO). This program, led by Dr. Mark Escott, expands community access to direct clinical and telehealth physician and physician assistant services to prevent unnecessary transports to the hospital and associated financial burdens for patients. The investments in clinical capacity have improved the coordination, quality, and efficiency of healthcare and mental health services delivered to patients of the Austin-Travis County EMS system and provided enhanced education, credentialing, and clinical oversight for our first responders. 

The OCMO works in collaboration with the Collaborative Care Communication Center (C4), a program that addresses low acuity calls from patients who do not require ambulance or emergency room services. The goal is to ensure that we send the right resource to the right patient at the right time, the first time. By providing access to tele-health, treatment in place, and partner referrals, and sending individual paramedics and EMTs, the C4 program reduces the cost of care for both patients and our emergency healthcare system. C4 began as a pandemic hotline and was made permanent by my budget amendment in August of 2020.

These two programs also work with another initiative I championed, the Paramedic Practitioner Program (PPP). The PPP sends highly trained medics who are also Physician Assistants to treat low-acuity patients in the field or via tele-health services, freeing up other EMS units to respond to calls that require ambulance transport. A typical intervention is approximately one fourth of the cost of an ambulance response. You can learn more about the program in this short video.

Together, in 2023, these integrated services yielded at least $8.5 million in total cost savings for patients, and diverted 5,748 patients from emergency departments, freeing up bed and ambulance space for those with life-threatening needs and helping to improve emergency response times. Over half of these patients were under or unfunded, which means they had very little access to non-emergency healthcare making them dependent on the 911 system for their healthcare needs.  The Integrated Services team was able to address immediate needs for patients and then connect them to more permanent resources.  

Over the last few years I also have initiated several reforms to streamline EMS’ revenue and cost-recovery methods, and to establish goals and personnel authorization for the C4 and PPP programs to operate 24/7. I also have partnered with my colleagues on budget initiatives to further expand access to healthcare in Austin, including a pilot program to administer in-the-field units of whole blood, bystander stop-the-bleed training programs, medic simulation training, and stationing EMS personnel at the airport. In past years I also have increased the number of ambulances, medics and command staff serving our community and supported increased wages and improved working conditions for our EMS professionals.

In 2022, I secured funding for 4 additional epidemiologists at Austin Public Health to support our response to disease outbreaks, including mitigation and prevention strategies. In addition to addressing emerging and re-emerging diseases, like COVID-19, MPox, and measles, the increased capacity in our epidemiology division has allowed us to track and mitigate the effects of a wide array of issues facing our community, including our local opioid crisis, harmful algae blooms, adverse effects associated with extreme weather, and the environmental impacts of the Fayette Power Plant. Our epidemiologists have also been tracking incidents of domestic violence, sexual violence, maternal and child health, and mental health needs, so our resources can be effectively deployed to address these issues. 

This type of data analysis allows us to identify and target public health intervention strategies and support community resilience especially to the populations and communities most affected.  Our epidemiologists address our community’s health needs and help make our community safer and healthier. You can learn more about what our City’s epidemiologists do by visiting their website.

Austin’s public health needs are changing, and our healthcare landscape must evolve with it. I am proud to have led these efforts to make our City’s contribution to our healthcare system more efficient and equitable in partnership with my colleagues, our Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mark Escott, our EMS Chief Robert Luckritz, the EMS Association (President Selena Xie), Austin Public Health Director Adrienne Sturrup, Chief Epidemiologist Janet Pichette, and the many health professionals that serve our community each and every day.  I look forward to our continued innovation and collaboration.

In the remainder of this letter, you will find updates on summer camp registration, a troll coming to Pease Park, and more.

Regards,