CMS Releases AIF and PUF for Calendar Year 2019 AIF Announced The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Transmitttal 4172 (Change Request 11031) on November 30th to announce the Ambulance Inflation Factor (AIF) for Calendar Year 2019 (CY 2019). The ambulance industry will benefit from a positive gain again this year with the […]
New Virginia Law Shines Light on Ambulance Billing Backlash SB663 Driven by a larger nationwide discussion regarding balance or “surprise” billing, a new law enacted in Virginia and set to take effect in March of 2019 will force air ambulance providers to inform patients of their choices prior to the flight. Virginia Senator Jeremy McPike […]
Documenting Winter Weather Related Events Boom! Out of nowhere came the first winter storm of the 2018-2019 season, hitting the Northeast and affecting several of our billing company offices this week. So, while the white stuff is tops in our minds, it’s time to loop back to our annual discussion surrounding how to adequately document […]
Fire Service Leaders and AAA Disagree on Approach to Cost Reporting Locked Horns Leaders from the top American fire service organizations and the American Ambulance Association recently, publicly locked horns over the proposed approach to the new Congressional Medicare cost reporting mandate. In a show of fire service solidarity, the International Association of Fire Chief […]
PA Ambulances Celebrate Second Legislative Victory for 2018 June… in this space In June, we passed along some key legislation initiatives in this space that were pending and, in the case of Pennsylvania, a proposal that had passed and was signed into law. Now, just a short four months later, Pennsylvania’s EMS system can celebrate […]
After the Disaster- What to Do Next? Florence Mayhem Like us, we’re sure you watched in horror as Hurricane Florence smashed into the east coast of the United States dumping trillions of gallons of water on North and South Carolina and Virginia. For days, the heavens opened into a waterfall of torrential rains and flooding […]
It’s Football Season- Documentation Hints for Sports Injuries Are You Ready for Some Football? Our billing office headquarters is in Pennsylvania. High school football is king in The Commonwealth so many of our clients treat and transport football-induced injuries. Right now, young people everywhere are heading back to school and they are participating in sporting […]
A Labor Day Tribute to the First Responder What a Summer! Here we are. The last big holiday weekend of the summer and what a summer it’s been! Many of you have endured multiple days of record heat and humidity. For others, you’ve trudged through raging flood waters providing comfort while saving lives with heroic […]
CMS Opens Wider Window with Templates Open Door = Open Window Just a few weeks ago, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) opened a wider window for those of us in the ambulance industry to take a look at the future direction for supporting documentation expectations. Part of the Patients Over Paperwork Project, […]
OIG Reports on Overpayments Sparks Discussion This Month The Office of the Inspector General made public the report “Medicare Improperly Paid Providers for Non-Emergency Ambulance Transports to Destinations Not Covered by Medicare” (View the report) this month. The OIG took a look at non-emergency ambulance transport claims paid by Medicare between 2014 and 2016. This time the […]
