The ET3 Model is pleased to announce the addition of 4 new FAQs. The new FAQs address important questions from ET3 Model Applicants regarding 24/7 availability, multi-payer strategy, and how ACOs/total cost of care entities can integrate with the ET3 Model.

As a reminder, the ET3 Model Application period closes on September 19, 2019 at 11:59 PM ET. You can start the application here. Please note, additional application rounds may be scheduled, but are not guaranteed.

New ET3 Model FAQs – September 2019

1. Q: Must EMS suppliers or providers ensure 24/7 availability of non-ED options (treatment-in-place or alternative destination) from the start of the Model?
   
   A: Applicants must provide a detailed plan in their ET3 Model application for ensuring 24/7 availability. If applicants cannot ensure 24/7 availability at the start of the Model, the applicant should provide details in their plan such as an estimated time frame and partnerships needed to ensure 24/7 coverage is achieved.
   
   For example, an EMS supplier or provider may describe in their application their partnership with an Urgent Care Center opened from 7am-10pm 7 days a week, but state that their treatment-in-place program will be operational no later than June 2020, and it will be available from 10pm to 7am.
   
   
2. Q:Where an ET3 Model applicant has chosen to submit a multi-payer strategy, may the applicant submit documentation other than a Letter of Intent (LOI) to support the statements made in their multi-payer strategy.
   
   A:To be eligible for the ET3 Model, an applicant must provide either a plan to align ET3 innovations across multiple payers or a plan to operationalize its proposed intervention design for Medicare FFS beneficiaries only. In the event that an applicant has chosen to submit a multi-payer strategy, and that plan identifies a specific payer as a proposed partner, submission of an LOI provides evidence to support this partnership. If conversations between an applicant and a payer are not yet to the point where the two entities are comfortable signing an LOI, then other forms of documentation may be provided in lieu of the LOI to support the applicant’s description of the shared vision among the two parties.


3. Q:How can ACOs and other entities responsible for total cost of care integrate with the ET3 Model?
   
   A:Through the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the Innovation Center expects to allocate cooperative agreement funding to support successful implementation of a medical triage line integrated into the 911 dispatch system(s) in an eligible region. CMS will give preference to NOFO applicants that are able to identify a caller’s care management team and triage the caller back to that team for non-emergency health concerns. This could happen at the 911 dispatch level or after the caller has been triaged for medical advice using an electronic health information data exchange solution. This data exchange solution would be used to identify the caller as being attributed to an ACO or other total cost of care entity.


4. Q:Can ET3 Model services be initiated through a non-911 medical advice line operated by an ACO or other entity responsible for total cost of care?
   
   A:ET3 Model services could be initiated through a non-911 line if the call first came through 911 and was triaged to the non-911 line. In these cases, the ambulance providing the ET3 Model service would need to be enrolled in the ET3 Model and subject to state and local laws.

You can also see the FAQs posted on the ET3 Model FAQ webpage with the words “New – September 2019” at the end of each question to distinguish them.