Quickly Get the Care You Need

Our innovative Nurse Navigation Line ensures you quickly reach the most appropriate level of care based on your needs. This may include transportation to a local clinic, urgent care or hospital emergency department. You talk to a licensed nurse to make that decision, together.

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Program Overview

The Emergency Nurse Navigation Program, designed and implemented by AMR, works by routing dispatcher-triaged 911 callers with non-emergent injuries or illnesses to a Colorado State Licensed-nurse for assessment. A nurse will then assess a caller’s symptoms and refer them to the most appropriate medical care.

Steps taken by the Nurse Navigator could include a virtual visit with a board-certified emergency physician, home health suggestions to best meet a patient’s needs, or transport, without an ambulance, to a non-emergent local healthcare provider.

The patient benefits through the more direct communication and care that can save time and money. Medical information provided during calls will continue to be considered private patient information.

Infographic showing Right Care - Right Time - Right Place

Click to open full-sized infographic (opens in a new window).

The Nurse Navigation program gets you to the right level of care, which may or may not include transportation to a hospital emergency department. 911 calls with non-emergency injuries or illnesses may be transferred to a Nurse Navigator who can assess your symptoms and refer you to the most appropriate medical care. This care could include referral to a local clinic or urgent care.

You should only call 911 for a serious medical emergency that you believe is life-threatening or that may be or become life threatening, for example:

  • Trouble breathing
  • Chest pain
  • Heart attack
  • Cardiac arrest
  • Fainting
  • A severe allergic reaction
  • Injuries from a fall or accident
  • Seizures
  • Severe pain
  • Other urgent matters

You should not call 911 for minor illnesses that can be addressed through an appointment with a primary care physician (for example: a cold, a minor cut or a routine medical matter)

If your condition is an urgent, life-threatening or potentially life-threatening emergency, the 911 center will dispatch EMS first responders who will assess your symptoms and may transport you to the hospital directly. If your condition is not a medical emergency, you may be transferred to the City of Boulder Emergency Nurse Navigation Program, and the Nurse Navigators will assess your symptoms and determine the most appropriate medical care for your condition.

The 911 operator will triage your condition by using industry best practice medical protocols and questions to thoroughly evaluate your medical symptoms. The results of that protocol-driven evaluation of your specific medical symptoms will determine the best course of care for you.

The Nurse Navigator will connect you to the most appropriate level of care available, taking into account your existing primary care provider (if any), the location where you last received care, your location, the time of day and the availability of healthcare providers.

Each clinic has walk-in appointments that will be available for City of Boulder Emergency Nurse Navigation Program patients.

The Nurse Navigator will notify the clinic that you are on the way, provide your estimated time of arrival and the reason(s) you are seeking medical care. Upon your arrival, you will be seen as soon as possible.

Yes, the selected medical providers will be licensed and able to prescribe medications for treatment.

No. You should schedule all follow-up medical appointments directly with the medical clinic in which you were seen and where you are now a registered patient, or with any other non-emergency healthcare facilities that the clinic may refer you to.

Nurse Navigators with the City of Boulder Emergency Nurse Navigation Program should only receive calls that would typically be best handled in a non-emergency healthcare environment as opposed to a hospital emergency room setting. However, if the Nurse Navigator determines that your condition is of an urgent or emergency nature that should best be treated at a hospital or that you should be assessed by Boulder Fire-Rescue, we will immediately dispatch an EMS unit to you.

The Nurse Navigators are licensed nurses by the State of Colorado and have professional experience in emergency nursing. They are also specially trained in the practice of telephone triage.

The Nurse Navigator will work with you to determine the most appropriate level of care for you. If during that process you or the nurse determines that an ambulance is needed, then one will be dispatched.

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