The following is a summary of an article by Jacksonville Today. Click here to read the entire article.
City leaders in Jacksonville are reviewing a telehealth program that spends taxpayer dollars to help hospitals reduce emergency room costs by diverting uninsured patients to other services.
Telescope Health, the company running the city's Healthlink Jax program, is defending its partnership after City Council member Rory Diamond and the Duval County DOGE committee raised concerns about whether the city-funded initiative is justified and transparent.
Telescope CEO Dr. Matthew Thompson and Mayor Donna Deegan’s office have publicly rejected the DOGE claims, emphasizing that the program’s goal is to provide care for uninsured residents and reduce strain on emergency departments.
The DOGE effort, led by council member Ron Salem, has formed a subcommittee chaired by Diamond to investigate claims of misuse of taxpayer funds and possible illegal conduct tied to Healthlink Jax, the free virtual health care service provided by the city.
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Diamond, citing concerns about how the program operates and connections among some of the organizations involved, suggested — without evidence — that patient routing could be improper.
Telescope CEO Dr. Matthew Thompson and Mayor Donna Deegan's office have publicly rejected these claims, emphasizing that Healthlink Jax is designed to divert uninsured, nonemergency patients away from emergency rooms.
Thompson stressed in a letter that the program serves patients who lack coverage and therefore cannot be billed to Medicare or Medicaid. Healthlink Jax connects patients to low-cost or free care through JaxCareConnect and partners with over 60 local organizations, including all five Jacksonville-area health systems.
The program’s creation and selection of Telescope Health, budgeted at $2.185 million for its first year, have also been defended. Telescope was chosen through a competitive bidding process over two other companies, and an independent review by the city’s Office of Inspector General found the process was completed properly and would have ranked Telescope highest even under independent scoring.
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Telescope and the Deegan administration argue the program has successfully kept thousands of uninsured Duval residents out of emergency rooms while providing primary care access. Analytics indicate that nearly 45% of nonemergency patients who used Healthlink Jax last year would otherwise have gone to Baptist Health, with another 20% diverted from University of Florida Health Jacksonville, resulting in an estimated $11.1 million in cumulative cost savings.
The city has another telehealth contract with Rightsite Health, which handles nonemergency 911 calls. Diamond has questioned why the city is paying Telescope millions while Rightsite provides similar services for insured patients at no cost to the city.
Thompson noted that Telescope’s program differs in its city coordination, branded Healthlink Jax platform and partnership with JaxCareConnect.
Diamond has also raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving leadership overlaps between Telescope Health, Baptist Health’s emergency room staffing agency and Fire and Rescue's medical director, though no specific allegations of wrongdoing have been made. City officials have denied any conflicts of interest.
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