Effectively Obtaining a Signature in the Field We Get It As EMS providers, we understand that one of the least favorite things you do in the field is to obtain a patient’s signature. From the standpoint of an EMS field provider it often seems like an unnecessary requirement, a burden even. But, to your ambulance […]
Adding EMS Routines? 3 Key Questions to Ask Prior to Taking the Leap Increase volume. Increase cash flow…not so fast! As an EMS billing contractor, we increasingly are contacted by our clients about the pros and cons of adding routine/non-emergency ambulance transports to the daily repertoire. It’s a big decision. It’s a decision that should […]
Understanding the Medicare Prior Authorization Demo Project Repetitive Scheduled Non –Emergent Ambulance Transports The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) just announced that they will pilot a demonstration project to pre-authorize Repetitive Scheduled Non-Emergent Transports. Repetitive Scheduled Non-Emergent Transports are defined when the same patient is transported three or more times over a ten-day […]
Who’s the New Guy? Really? The new hire… Staffing is tight. You just worked an extra 16 hours this week to fill the holes in the schedule which looks like swiss cheese on paper. In walks someone new that you never met. He (or she) sticks out his hand, shakes firmly and proceeds to explain […]
More Medicare Claim Processing Insight- Transporting ESRD Patients for Dialysis Second Week in a Row… Last week we filled this space with information from the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) handling Part B claims in Ohio and Kentucky regarding their Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) findings. We provided you with a view of how the CERT […]
“Ambulance Service: Incomplete Documentation”- The CERT Perspective It Doesn’t Happen Often… Not often do we ever get a chance to gain a first-hand look into how decisions are made by Medicare compliance auditors. This week we had the chance to do so. CGS- J15 MAC CERT Our e-mail inbox chimed a few days ago, pretty […]
The ABC’s of an Ambulance Billing Company DNA There are many ambulance billing companies out there. These companies come in all sizes and shapes. Some are good; really good. Some are bad; really bad. A really good ambulance billing company has a basic DNA that involves these ABC’s. The same basics may apply to the […]
Non-Emergency Transports- Two Questions to ALWAYS Ask Big Brother’s Watching! Never before has the ambulance industry been so much under the microscope when it comes to billing and receiving payment for ambulance transports- especially non-emergency transports. Federal Government, State Governments, you name it. “Big Brother” is watching what we do. The focus has increased dramatically […]
Taking Aim at System Abusers Past History- “Villainizing” the Service Providers If you follow the news regarding entitlements like we do, then you have probably noticed a growing trend toward what we consider to be the “villainizing” of healthcare providers that bill Medicare and Medicaid. Everyone seems to want to blame the ills of the […]
The Significance of One Hundred Late last week, we published our 100th blog post. It’s not something we were anxiously counting down to, nor waiting to celebrate—that’s just not our style. In fact, the “centennial” wasn’t even on our radar, and (quite honestly) we discovered it by happenstance. In realization of this milestone however, we did take some time to […]
