Documenting-Billing-Brain-Attacks-01-10-2014

Documenting and Billing “Brain Attacks”

Documenting and Billing “Brain Attacks” CVA CVA- Cerebral Vascular Accident or what we most commonly refer to as a “stroke” can be one of the most challenging and life threatening emergencies that we handle in EMS. The scenario is literally a “brain attack.” When part of the brain is damaged or destroyed because it’s deprived […]

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Twas the night before Christmas… EMS Style

Twas the night before Christmas… EMS Style Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a pager was chirping, not one single run. The keys in the truck were hung there with care In hopes that no calls were soon for us there. The providers were nestled all snug in their lounge […]

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A “Fractured” Tale

A “Fractured” Tale That time of year… The weather alerts started hitting the phone early this morning. Starting overnight, those of us here in Northeastern Pennsylvania will be anticipating a blanket of 4-6 inches of snow come tomorrow. Depending on where you are located as your reading this post, you may or may not be […]

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Community Paramedicine and “The Little Guy”

Community Paramedicine and “The Little Guy” The Buzz… Read anything EMS-related today and you’ll probably see that Community Paramedicine is all the buzz. In fact, it’s a bit worn out already as a topic and this “thing” that it is hasn’t even hit full stride. There’s no doubt that anyone in EMS can see that […]

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Family, Friends and Responsible Persons

Family, Friends and Responsible Persons That time of year… Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years is a time to get together with family and friends. In the spirit of the season, we’ll take a few lines to discuss the importance of gathering relationship and guarantor information as part of the documentation you prepare following your EMS […]

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JFK-Ambulance-for-Blog

JFK, Sadness, Thanksgiving and EMS

JFK, Sadness, Thanksgiving and EMS The Day Hope Died We thought we’d take a break from what has been a pretty intense round of documentation focus for the past few weeks’ posts in order to share some random thoughts from the billing office brain. Fifty years ago today was the day that many historians say […]

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What’s the Question?

What’s the Question? “9-1-1, Do you have an emergency?” A large majority of the ambulance scenarios we handle start with that very question. But what about the questions you, as the provider on the scene, are asking? Do you ask the probing questions that it takes to properly assess, treat and ultimately document your EMS […]

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“That” Person

“That” Person A People Game EMS is a people game. Be it fellow first responders, patients, facility staff, the “town fathers”, the media or whomever we encounter; part of being a really good EMS provider is learning how to effectively deal with other people. For the most part, those who remain in EMS for a […]

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Discovering the Weakness about “Weakness”

Discovering the Weakness about “Weakness” Common Scenario If we earned a dollar for every “weakness” response we’ve handled over the years, collectively we could more than adequately fund every EMS system in the United States with the newest trucks, latest equipment and all providers would be driving some expensive European luxury car. But, now that […]

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