Jefferson County supervisors to vet hospital concerns over EMS point-of-care cardiac test

Jefferson County supervisors agreed to invite a physician to a future meeting after an EMS representative reported a hospital letter opposing a planned field trial of a point-of-care troponin cartridge test.

The EMS speaker, identified in the record as Josh, said he received the letter the morning of the meeting and that the hospital’s concerns are already addressed in the county’s protocol. “This is another piece of the picture to determine if we need to take that patient to a facility that can actually intervene,” he said, describing the cartridge as a complement to EKG and clinical assessment to help triage possible cardiac events.

Josh told the board the cartridges cost about $28 each (as discussed in the meeting) and said the county has not yet implemented the test; the plan remains in a trial phase. He also noted that local hospitals with cath labs include facilities cited in the discussion as Atumu, Burlington and Iowa City (names as given in the meeting record).

Board members agreed to place the item on the May 27 agenda and to invite one of the doctors who signed the hospital letter to meet with the board. The objective, as described by the EMS representative, is to discuss clinical concerns and billing or system‑level impacts raised by the hospital before the county proceeds with any field testing.

The board did not take a final vote on adopting the test during the meeting; next steps are the invited discussion and additional materials to be reviewed at the May 27 session.