Veterans in EMS On this Veteran’s Day, as EMS brothers and sisters, we take a minute to salute the many EMS providers that have so bravely served our great nation! We have many of those in our ranks to thank for the freedoms we enjoy every day. Our very ability to provide life-saving services is […]
Ambulance Inflation Factor to increase by 2.4% in 2012- Part II If the bonus payments go away… You’ll recall that bonus payments of 2% (urban), 3% (rural) and 22.6% (super-rural) are currently being added to Medicare payments as part of the Medicare Ambulance Relief provisions in the Tax Extenders Act of 2009, which was once […]
Ambulance Inflation Factor to increase by 2.4% in 2012- Part I Determining the adjustment… The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that the Ambulance Inflation Factor (AIF) for 2012 will be set at +2.4% beginning on January 1, 2012. The AIF is arrived at by combining two economic indicators. The Medicare ambulance […]
Recovery Audit Program Extended to Medicaid White House pushes to further curb waste, fraud and abuse… Last week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its final rule establishing the Medicaid Recovery Audit program. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) touted the program as a key part of the Obama Administration’s […]
Storm Related Transport Billing- Follow-up We contacted CMS… Following our September 9th Blog, Storm Related Transport Billing, Enhanced reached out to communicate with one of our key contacts within CMS. Our question to this CMS representative was to determine if it was anticipated that any waiver would be initiated on origin/destination or PCS requirements related […]
Storm Related Transport Billing Disaster Transports This week’s torrential rains and record flooding here in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania combined with last week’s encounter with Hurricane Irene caused many of our clients to be pressed into completing spur-of-the-moment, evacuation-type ambulance transports. Although these transports are extremely critical to protect patient safety at the height of […]
Will Paid Staffing Solve Our Problems? Not a week goes by… There isn’t a week that goes by it seems that one or more of our clients doesn’t call to inquire about numbers as they relate to pending decisions to add paid staff. It appears that the root of these discussion is new legislation arising […]
Congress Passes Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010 The Health Care Industry, including ambulance services, scored a major victory recently in Congress. On November 30th, the Senate passe Senate Bill 3987 known as the “Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010.” The bill essentially removes most, if not all, health care providers- including ambulance […]
Congress Passes Medicare Ambulance Relief Extensions/Announcement of the 2011 AIF Ambulance Relief Extended for One More Year! We have learned that Congress, today (Thursday, December 9th), passed what’s being referred to as the “physician fix extension.” This extension, meant to cover shortfalls in Medicare payments to doctors that were anticipated in the New Year, also […]
Multifactor Productivity- The Dreaded Adjustment The MFP is coming… Never before, since the inception of the Ambulance Fee Schedule (AFS), has the AFS amounts decreased. Now we may have seen a zero increase, but never a decrease. Well all that’s about to change thanks to three letters that will send shockwaves to our industry- MFP! […]
