Do You Have the Tools You Need for Future EMS?
Changing World of EMS
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we live in a world of constant change.
Like the rest of the world, there is a changing world of EMS and it’s happening very fast.
Advances in healthcare and technology have changed the way we operate in the pre-hospital environment. The EMS of just a few years ago looks drastically different than the EMS of today and by tomorrow a lot more will have changed.
The questions is, do you have the tools you need to dive into the future of EMS?
Technology
Technology is growing at such a fast pace, it’s hard to keep up. All kind of gadgets and widgets open up a whole new world for EMS to track, trace and analyze the things that we do.
In this highly digital age, we can use the power of computing to learn more about what we do in EMS than at any time since modern EMS came to be in the last four decades. When Dr. “Bones” ran that scanner over his patients onboard the Starship Enterprise, those of us old enough to remember marveled in our dreams at what the future of healthcare may hold.
Now we’re seeing some of those very dreams come to be.
We’ve come a long way from the “scoop and run” mentality through Squad 51 and radio phones and “Rampart.” We’re doing the very things that Gage and DeSoto only dreamed of doing and we’re doing it with precision.
So much has happened in just the last ten years, let alone the last forty years that it’s hard to believe that we operated as we did back in the day.
Analytics
Today we can analyze just about every phase of our EMS operations. We can track the EMS scenario from the point of activation and initiation of the call through responses, treatment, trace outcomes and then tie it all together in the office in order to obtain reimbursement and create efficiency.
We know our costs and can plot them in a computer model that takes into account all of the variables that drive our systems. We know our reimbursements and can trace them from the point of submission of the claim through final disposition.
There are digital tools to peer into every phase of the operation, but can your EMS agency afford those tools and do you have the right people breaking down the data?
It takes a sharp eye and a good bundle of software applications to make all of this come together. Without the right human and digital computing components coming together, it’s all just a bunch of numbers, graphs and tables that can do more to confuse than enlighten.
Today’s EMS Manager
Today’s EMS manager must wear many hats. Not that this was never the case, but that same manager must be street savvy and analytical all at the same time. Knowing how to leverage the large amount of data that flows in and out of the machines and over the desktop each and every day is more than half the battle of running a successful EMS system.
The ability to employ and integrate data streams from many different sources will prove to sift out the successful EMS manager from the not-so-successful one.
When to Seek Help…
Assuming that one person or one team can handle all of the tools to be successful can be a big mistake. When is it time to seek help?
While you may be a very talented EMS manager, the complexity of today’s world implies that no one person can know everything about everything. Knowing when to seek help from outside sources is the hallmark of a wise manager.
And there is plenty of help out there.
In our industry, billing outsourcing companies can take the pain and strain off the worry side of financial concerns. Using an outsourced EMS billing solution, insures that not only do you have a partner to help you focus on important revenue data, but also insures total compliance and constant monitoring for proven efficiencies in the revenue cycle. Reports, data, processes and analysis come with a billing outsource solution.
There are consultants and experts all throughout the EMS world that can assist you by providing you with information that will help you grow, maintain and excel for your EMS system.
It’s time to think out of the box. The EMS manager that is complacent and content with the status quo will watch the world of EMS go past at the speed of light and miss the opportunity to catch up.
