Medicare Payment Adjustments Announced for 2024 By Chuck Humphrey, B.A., EMT-B, CAC, CACO, CADS* Good News! I love to begin a blog post about Medicare with “Good News”! While not yet formally published, CMS has announced that the “add-on” payment adjustments to the national Ambulance Medicare Fee Schedule have...
Bipartisan Victory in the Senate: Protecting Veterans' Access to Lifesaving Ambulance Services By Adam Patterson * In a significant win for veterans and the ambulance industry, the U.S. Senate recently passed legislation that included an amendment sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, aimed at preventing the Department...
LATEST EFFORT TO “FIX” THE NO SURPRISES ACT By Ed Marasco, MPM, CMTE, EMT-P (Ret.) * On Friday (10-27-23) CMS issued a press release and fact sheet outlining the key elements of the new proposed rule governing key aspects of the No Surprises Act (NSA). As you may recall,...
Colossal Fail - ET3! By Chuck Humphrey, B.A., EMT-B, CAC, CACO, CADS, * What Happened? When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) Model as a nationwide demonstration program, I was excited. When speaking with my colleagues in the EMS...
CHALLENGES IN RURAL AND FRONTIER MOBILE MEDICINE PART II By Ed Marasco, MPM, CMTE, EMT-P (Ret.) * Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies face many challenges in the current environment. In many respects, the EMS experience is a microcosm of the broader healthcare system. There is an abundance of financial, operational, and...
Be A Mr. Ford BY GARY HARVAT, CMTE, EMT-P (RET)* Life is full of opportunities – some you grab and some you pass. Hopefully, those you seize will turn out well; be it in your personal or professional life. I’ve been very fortunate as many of the opportunities that...
Challenges in Rural & Frontier Mobile Medicine, Part I By Ed Marasco, MPM, CMTE, EMT-P (Ret.) * Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies face many challenges in the current environment. In many respects, the EMS experience is a microcosm of the broader healthcare system. There is an abundance of financial,...
Safety at Roadside Emergencies is Non-Negotiable *By William D. Hayes, MBA, EFO Is the Scene Safe? It’s no secret that working roadside emergencies is one of the most dangerous situations that emergency responders can find themselves in. In 2022, the Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI) cited 11 fire/EMS personnel...
Should EMS Reduce the Use of Lights & Sirens? Part II By Brian Maloney * When people ask me why I got into emergency medical services I tell them the story of taking a CPR class while in college. I completely fell in love with the idea of being...
Should EMS Reduce the Use of Lights & Sirens? Part I By Brian Maloney * When people ask me why I got into emergency medical services I tell them the story of taking a CPR class while in college. I completely fell in love with the idea of being able...
