In all 50 States…
We stumbled across these startling statistics this week. In
all 50 States of this United States of America the following numbers apply:
- 50%- All 50 States now have an obesity rate higher than one-half of the population
- 48%- Percentage of persons in all States living with one or more chronic illnesses
- 20%- Persons of the age 65 or older make up at least 20% of each State’s population
What’s it all mean to
EMS?
The numbers are revealing.
No wonder our call volumes have increased. No wonder most of
our EMS systems are stretched to the limit- more runs, a shirking pool of
providers and flat funding initiatives all combine for stressors for EMS in America.
Serving Bariatric
Patients
Think about the innovations in EMS. When many of us began
participating in the EMS system the bariatric stretcher was unheard of. Now, a
large majority of EMS agencies have one or more of these devices and the cost
of buying and maintaining this important piece of equipment is very pricey.
The growing number of bariatric patients require extra
manpower and special precautions so we all do not hurt ourselves when providing
treatment and transport for these individuals. All of this takes dollars and
resources that our forefathers in EMS were never challenged with solving.
Longer Life
Expectancy = More Persons to Serve
Advancements in treatment of persons with chronic illnesses
has lengthened the life-expectancy for these individuals which is wonderful,
but those persons need to be moved from one place to the other the longer they
live. More people, living longer require more people and ambulances on the
street.
Upside-Down Medicare
Funding
We read that the Medicare trust fund is being depleted at an
alarming rate. Truth is, at the inception of Medicare there were more people
below Medicare age paying into the trust fund than were taking from it.
Now we have the reverse.
More people are taking benefits form the Medicare fund, at
least 20% in each and every State qualify, than are paying into it and that’s
not counting those persons receiving disability benefits as part of the rise in
chronic condition survivors.
Work Smarter to
Overcome the Obstacles
How do we overcome what the changing patient population and
modern EMS has thrusted onto all of us that are part of EMS in America in 2016?
We have to work smarter.
We have to be efficient. We must employ billing practices
that are 100% compliant and yet beat the trees for every single dollar. This is
exactly why we’re seeing a growing number of billing operations changing their
scope and practice- consolidating, outsourcing, employing digital means
whenever possible- in order to funnel more dollars to drive service to more
patients.
We must be somewhat aggressive in chasing every dollar that
is possible. We must educate the public that the ambulance bill they are
receiving insures that the service will be there tomorrow when they dial 9-1-1
for their next emergency.
We must denounce fraud and abuse and attack it wherever we
find it. We should police our own ranks before the regulators are forced to do
it for us and then we all suffer because of it.
We must be smart about deploying other resources when an
ambulance may be a convenience over a necessity. Additionally, we must educate
the patient population more effective about when it’s appropriate to activate
the EMS system versus calling for a less emergent and costly means of getting
from one place to the other- wheelchair van, public transportation, private
conveyance, etc.
Last but not least, system providers- the people on the
street- must form a partnership with management and the billing office to
insure that every detail is documented in the Patient Care Report. Nothing can
be left out. Every angle of treatment should be reviewed in light of funding
and for efficiency in the system both on the expense and the reimbursement side
of the equation.
Together we’ll figure it out and move forward with EMS for
the future that covers a changing patient demographic.
The Ambulance Billing
Services blog is brought to you as an educational tool by Enhanced Management
Services, Inc. Enhanced Management Services, Inc. is an all-EMS third-party
billing contractor serving Fire/EMS agencies across the United States. To learn
more about who we are and what we do, please visit our website at www.enhancedms.com and click on the “Get Started” button on
any landing page.
