Jacksonville committee opens inquiry into telehealth contracts, seeks documents and subcommittee review

Councilmember Rory Diamond, who represents District 13, urged the Special Committee on DOGE on November 12 to begin public fact-finding into the city's telehealth contracts, saying repeated tips and preliminary research raised three specific concerns: whether the city is paying for services that RightSite provides under an MOU at no direct city cost; whether overlapping names across contractors indicate conflicts of interest; and whether calls are being routed to emergency rooms improperly, potentially amounting to upcoding or Medicare/Medicaid fraud.

"Why are we paying for something when we could be getting this service from an entity for free?" Diamond asked, summarizing the first of his concerns and asking the committee to seek records, protocols and referral volumes so the public can see whether the current arrangements are necessary.

Diamond described RightSite, a San Antonio-based 911 diversion service, as operating under a memorandum of understanding to resolve nonemergent 911 calls and bill insurers for avoided ER visits.…