Supporting Upgrades in Care Using Detailed Documentation Dispatched to…Arrived to Find You’re riding an ALS rig today, the BLS crew is tied up and you and your partner are dispatched by default for a call that has been determined via EMD to be a BLS Emergency for a patient with back pain. You respond accordingly […]
PA Ambulances Celebrate Second Legislative Victory for 2018 June… in this space In June, we passed along some key legislation initiatives in this space that were pending and, in the case of Pennsylvania, a proposal that had passed and was signed into law. Now, just a short four months later, Pennsylvania’s EMS system can celebrate […]
Emergency! – Digging Deeper to Define Bloggers Note- this week our billing office had a discussion with a client to help provide direction on the question of what constitutes an emergency and the documenting of the use of “lights and sirens”. The discussion is common. Just about two years ago, we added a blog post […]
Clear. Clinical. Documentation. Bloggers note- we posted this blog almost a year ago to the day. It’s one of those topics that never gets old and the information remains as important as it was the first day we posted it. All of us must keep this important concept in mind when documenting our EMS transports. […]
Dissecting “The Misunderstoods”- Part I- Billing for ALS 2 Bloggers note- early last year we posted a popular 2-part series talking about a subject we affectionately called “The Misunderstoods.” Because we periodically field questions about these two levels of service and the complexity of documenting properly to obtain maximum reimbursement, we’re offering up the series […]
UPDATE-Properly Executing the Medicare ABN-Part I Misunderstood The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has just announced the release of the revised Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN). It is important that those of us in the ambulance world who use this form on a regular basis begin to use this version immediately. Just […]
Clear. Clinical. Documentation. CMS Three words with impactful meaning anchor our discussion today. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sets the definition of medical necessity of an ambulance patient that all of us in the ambulance billing industry strictly adhere to. The definition centers on the clinical requirement “where the use of other methods […]
New Stuff From Medicare Two Updates Two recent Medicare updates carrying a potential impact on your EMS agency’s cash flow, complete with compliance implications popped up on our radar screen recently. Today’s blog will focus on those two updates. MUEs The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently updated the list of what they call […]
Properly Executing the Medicare ABN-Part I Misunderstood One of the most misunderstood puzzle pieces of ambulance billing is the Medicare Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN). As we work together with our contracted EMS agency clients, we find that EMS administrators and providers alike are very confused about the when and how to use this […]
Emergency! – Digging Deeper to Define Lights and Sirens Myth This billing office is often questioned about what constitutes an emergency for the purposes of billing and collecting payment. There’s a myth in EMS that any ambulance incident that necessitates the use of “lights and sirens” is an emergency. It’s not the case. We look […]
