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?:abstract
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In early March 2020, an outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in New York City exerted sudden and extreme pressures on emergency medical services and quickly changed public health policy and clinical guidance. Recognizing this, New York City Health + Hospitals established a clinician-staffed COVID-19 hotline for all New Yorkers. The hotline underwent three phases as the health crisis evolved. As of May 1, 2020, the hotline received over 90,000 calls and was staffed by over 1,000 unique clinicians. Hotline clinicians provided New Yorkers with clinical assessment and guidance, registered them for home symptom monitoring, connected them to social services, and provided a source of up-to-date answers to COVID-19 questions. By connecting New Yorkers with hotline providers, regardless of their regular avenues of accessing care, the hotline aimed to ease the pressures on the City\'s overtaxed emergency medical services. Future consideration should be given to promoting easy access to clinician hotlines by disadvantaged communities early in a public health crisis as well as evaluating the impact of clinician hotlines on clinical outcomes. [Editor\'s Note: This Fast Track Ahead Of Print article is the accepted version of the manuscript. The final edited version will appear in an upcoming issue of Health Affairs.].
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