Peeling Back the Layers of the Cost Data Collection Instrument… Section 5: Service Volume Part Two We continue our series of blog posts to dissect the Cost Data Reporting mandate and the online reporting instrument that CMS will use to collect the data. Our last blog post, focused on Section 4: Emergency Response Time Reporting. […]
Peeling Back the Layers of the Cost Data Collection Instrument… Section 4: Emergency Response Time Reporting Part One By now you are well aware that the Ground Ambulance Cost Data Reporting mandate has begun. It’s a law. We must do it. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work, especially if your […]
Hurricane Dorian Prompts CMS Emergency Efforts Breaking News Literally, as we contribute to this blog space, our fellow Americans in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic States are experiencing the dramatic effects of the monster Hurricane Dorian. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has just issued Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Special Editions (SEs) 19017 (Puerto Rico), […]
Supporting Upgrades in Care Using Detailed Documentation Dispatched to…Arrived to Find You’re riding an ALS rig today, the BLS crew is tied up and you and your partner are dispatched by default for a call that has been determined via EMD to be a BLS Emergency for a patient with back pain. You respond accordingly […]
Emergency! – Digging Deeper to Define Bloggers Note- this week our billing office had a discussion with a client to help provide direction on the question of what constitutes an emergency and the documenting of the use of “lights and sirens”. The discussion is common. Just about two years ago, we added a blog post […]
Other Methods of Transportation are Contraindicated Medical Necessity Defined We talk a lot about Medical Necessity in the ambulance billing office. Medical necessity and Reasonableness are key in determining whether or not an insurance payer is obligated to pay for ambulance transport, especially for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Title XVIII of the Social Security Act […]
Clear. Clinical. Documentation. Bloggers note- we posted this blog almost a year ago to the day. It’s one of those topics that never gets old and the information remains as important as it was the first day we posted it. All of us must keep this important concept in mind when documenting our EMS transports. […]
Other Methods of Transportation are Contraindicated Medical Necessity Defined We talk a lot about Medical Necessity in the ambulance billing office. Medical necessity and Reasonableness are key in determining whether or not an insurance payer is obligated to pay for ambulance transport, especially for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Title XVIII of the Social Security Act […]
Clear. Clinical. Documentation. CMS Three words with impactful meaning anchor our discussion today. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sets the definition of medical necessity of an ambulance patient that all of us in the ambulance billing industry strictly adhere to. The definition centers on the clinical requirement “where the use of other methods […]
New Stuff From Medicare Two Updates Two recent Medicare updates carrying a potential impact on your EMS agency’s cash flow, complete with compliance implications popped up on our radar screen recently. Today’s blog will focus on those two updates. MUEs The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently updated the list of what they call […]
