Top 4 Challenges in Fire Ambulance Billing

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Top 4 Challenges in Fire Ambulance Billing

• The quality and delivery of Fire ambulance EMS
  are being threatened today, hugely because of the
  ongoing economic crisis. The survival of EMS
  companies is at stake today.
• Top 4 challenges faced by fire ambulance EMS
• Poor funding
• For quality services from an EMS company, a
  significant amount of investment is needed. EMS
  companies acquire huge portions of their funding
  from Medicaid, Medicare, patients, and insurance
  companies. They rely on reimbursements and tax
  support from the locals. Voluntary EMS companies
  depend on donations from the public. Some depend
  on funding from selling memberships to support
  their services. Municipals also have decreased
  their funding because of budgetary shortfalls.
• 2. Varying levels of reimbursements
• There is a decrease in funding from a
  fee-for-service reimbursement system and from
  insurance companies.

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Top 4 Challenges in Fire Ambulance Billing
Many unemployed people in the US are not covered
by health insurance. As they are not covered by
insurance, they have to pay for their own costs
for Emergency Medical Service. This results in
the collection of a very small percentage of fees
from these patients. Medicare supports ambulance s
ervices throughout the US.   ALS or BLS services
are the most expensive of all services that are
offered by EMS companies. As a result, they are
being reimbursed at a higher rate. Many EMS
companies charge their Medicaid, Medicare, and
uninsured clients, a rate which includes the cost
of unreimbursed care. This can result in lower
reimbursements from commercial insurance
companies. 3. Expensive billing options The
rules and regulations that are involved, while
filing services with Medicaid and Medicare, are
changing at a rapid rate. EMS companies could
resort to outsourcing of the billing and
collection services from companies that
specialize in these services. 7-10 percent of the
collection goes towards paying off the billing
companies. This increases the collection rates.
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Top 4 Challenges in Fire Ambulance Billing
The EMS companies that do not outsource the
billing and collection services need to allocate
proper, adequate resources. This requires
additional compliance to match the rules and
regulations of various payers. 4. Unique coding
requirements Coding standards are applicable for
EMS companies. These codes are provided by
updates from Medicare. Once the EMS confirms that
it was medically necessary to provide
transport, the insurance companies
and Medicare provide reimbursement against
transportation. The staff needs to be trained to
use the correct codes to avoid fraudulent
claims.   Many EMS systems have had to redesign
their services to increase their competence and
response times, keeping in mind the available
funds. Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act
(ACA), will have an increase in the public and
private sector insurance coverage. It will also
ensure a better healthcare delivery system. Much
remains to be seen!