An EMS Biller’s Motivation
Gotta love it!
EMS billing is a very unique and interesting occupation. Ya gotta love it, for sure, to do it. We love EMS billing and everything to do with EMS billing, including billing for ground and air ambulance transports, paratransit trips, mobile integrated healthcare services, and even paramedic intercepts.
The occupation is an acquired taste and once you do it, you’re hooked on an occupation that turns into a true passion.
Given that we are rolling into summer and the 4th of July with all of the remembrances of our great nation, we thought it would be cool to look at what makes an ambulance biller tick. What motivates those of us in the ambulance billing office to get up each morning and do what we do?
A Mission
The ambulance billing office has become an important behind-the-scenes part of the EMS landscape in America. Let’s face it, what we do out in the field takes a considerable amount of money to make things happen. Vehicles with wheels, wings or rotors cost a lot of money. But, the largest expense for most EMS organizations is the vital investment in their people- even if the organization runs largely on volunteer power, it still takes money to make it all go.
So, a truly dedicated EMS biller makes it his or her mission to serve the organization(s) supported by their efforts to pull in every last penny they can to support the lifesaving efforts outside of the office walls.
In some cases, EMS providers split time between the billing office and providing care in the field. In other cases, former EMS providers work to support the efforts in the field or maybe you were never a field provider but simply have a passion for ensuring that all systems are a “GO” in the event of an emergency in your community.
A truly dedicated ambulance billing office weaves the idea that a good revenue stream is a vital part of the lifesaving loop into its culture. Everyone in the billing office from the top down should be keenly aware of how important what they do is to the lifesaving efforts that go on outside of their walls.
Without an adequate flow of reimbursement dollars, many EMS agencies across the United States would be closed for business. The bills must be paid to save lives effectively and the only way to pay the bills is to have enough monetary resources available to pay those bills
Compassion
Those of us in the billing office who man the phones and talk to the patients we serve must realize that we are vitally important for the image of the EMS agency served.
Compassion is key, here. The EMS biller that excels is consistently compassionate. This is the type of person that is part of our team here at Quick Med Claims, and we’re sure that you’ll agree that compassion lands in the center of everything that we do in EMS.
Helping patients understand how best to navigate the insurance world in order to resolve the bill for the transport, is so vital and a skill that is nurtured over time. Excellent billing offices have calm, caring individuals that many those phones but yet are firm when dealing with the insurance payer representatives. Professionalism and empathy are so vital to what we do.
It’s safe to state here that we all become good listeners. Our patients are THE most important people we serve. We develop true empathy and compassion for the patients we interact with and get to know how to best serve them with every day.
Relationship Building
Finally, because we are on a mission to be compassionate we wind up building great relationships. These relationships can be long-distance or close-by.
For example, we may get to know our contact at XYZ Insurance Company well enough to know when he/she is having a bad day or has experienced a triumph professionally or personally. We build a rapport with the people we interact with. This helps us become ultra-people-oriented and improves our human interaction skills in life.
Largely, these relationships are built from a distance, but we also get to know the people of the agency(ies) we serve in EMS- the EMTs, EMT-Ps, First Responders.
These ladies and gentlemen are warriors! The respect we develop for them and they for us is enormously important. Simply reviewing the patient care reports and understanding the level of difficulty in the field warrants the respect we develop for them as we support their efforts from inside. Not to mention, learning the strength of character and the demand on the psyche that these men and women endure day after day.
A pretty good gig!
All-in-all what we do is a pretty good gig! We love ambulance billing. We hope it shows as we are motivated to support our noble EMS providers.
Now that you know what makes us tick, allow us to wish you a wonderful 4th of July celebration and please be safe!
