Small Change- Significant Impact New Year, New Numbers With the New Year comes new changes, especially from Medicare. We’ve all become accustomed to each new calendar year ushering in changes to the Medicare fee schedule. The New Year brings new numbers with dollar signs. This year, for the first time ever those numbers carried a […]
New Year’s Resolutions for a Happy EMS Billing Office It’s 2016! Wow! It’s 2016! It’s hard to believe we’ve entered a New Year. Wasn’t the 4th of July like yesterday? Ready or not, here we are. It’s January and time to make those famous New Year’s resolutions. Of course, in the spirit of all things […]
You ARE a Gift! The Season This season is a busy time! If you’re all like all of us, we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to find that perfect gift, at the perfect price for that special someone. The holiday season is also a time to reflect. As we […]
The Power of EMS in Politics What’s it all mean? It’s hard to ignore that we are fast rolling into the election cycle to choose the next President of the United States. Media outlets everywhere are bombarding us with the latest sound bites and poll numbers, ad nauseum. But, what’s it all mean for EMS. […]
Using the Buddy System to Prepare PCRs Where’d the day go? As a billing company, we often hear tales of woe as the administrative persons we work with share their challenges over getting their staff to complete Patient Care Reports in regular fashion. Let’s face it, EMS is a busy world. We’ve all had those days […]
Explaining the Ambulance Inflation Factor This Week This week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the Ambulance Inflation Factor (AIF) for Calendar Year 2016 (CY 2016). For the first time ever the AIF is a negative value, meaning it will impact the National Medicare Ambulance Fee Schedule by a negative four tenths of […]
Documenting Incidents for Public Places/Stand-By Events We are asked… Here at the billing office we often are asked questions about documenting EMS incidents that take place in public places and many times during stand-by events. There are the events where your EMS agency is engaged such as high school sporting events, community events such as […]
Be Careful What You Say! The Quick Answer The quick answer will get you every time! You know, the patient asks you a question you quickly answer with an off-the-cuff answer. And then…..you realize…. “Oops…maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” Too late now! Where are we going with this? Invariably, questions fielded about billing in […]
“Trick or Treat” – Documenting Child EMS Scenarios Little Ghouls and Goblins… Tomorrow is the day the little ghouls and goblins make their rounds to collect more sugar than any parent should ever allow their children to have. It’s almost Halloween! So, what better time than to offer some suggestions regarding documenting EMS treatment and […]
Additional Cut Looms for Ambulance Industry More Bad News This week saw more bad news for the ambulance industry. Leading economic indicators are pointing to a projected negative Ambulance Inflation Factor for 2016. It is projected that the AIF value in the New Year will decrease Medicare ambulance payments by -0.5%. While the number is […]
