Key Takeaways:
- A California community hospital partnered with AmplifyMD for emergency department (ED) TeleCardiology coverage
- Services included EKG reads and echocardiogram interpretations
- TeleCardiology care improved local access to services and prevented hundreds of patient transfers
- The program generated $7.76M net-new annualized inpatient value and 34x ROI.
Challenge
A nonprofit community hospital in California lacked onsite cardiology coverage. As a result, the hospital routinely transferred patients presenting to the emergency department with cardiology symptoms rather than evaluating them locally.
This created a recurring pattern of avoidable transfers, lost admissions, and significant revenue leakage from patients who could otherwise have remained in the community for care. Without this vital service, patients and families often incurred the added stress and expense of being transferred to larger facilities 30+ minutes away.
Solution
The hospital partnered with AmplifyMD for ED TeleCardiology coverage, including EKG reads and echocardiogram interpretations, which allowed them to triage patients who needed a transfer and those who could be treated locally.
Outcomes
88%
Patients with ED TeleCardiology consults avoided a transfer
$7.76M
Annualized net-new inpatient
value generated
34x
Return on investment (ROI) achieved while keeping patients local
With the addition of TeleCardiology, hospital staff could assess and treat the majority of cardiology patients onsite. This resulted in:
“These services have made a huge difference for our patients and our ED staff, and have prevented hundreds of transfers.”
-Hospital CMO
How can one patient a day change the economics?
The TeleCardiology program demonstrated how even low-volume specialty coverage can produce outsized financial returns when it keeps the right patients local. By evaluating an average of 1 ED cardiology patient per day, the hospital generated hundreds of local admissions annually and millions in net-new inpatient revenue.
Triage in the ED
AmplifyMD’s TeleCariologists quickly distinguished between patients who required transfer—such as STEMI cases needing higher-level interventional care—and patients who could be evaluated and managed locally, including NSTEMI and other non-STEMI presentations.
Through the EKG reads, clinical assessment, and echocardiogram interpretation, the cardiology team helped guide ED triage, admission decisions, and ongoing care planning.
With on-demand cardiology support, the hospital retained clinically appropriate admissions that previously would have been transferred—improving patient access while capturing meaningful revenue.
ED TeleCardiology coverage keeps patients local
If cardiology coverage gaps are driving avoidable ED transfers, lost admissions, or patient leakage, AmplifyMD can help you evaluate how TeleCardiology coverage could help.
Services include:
