Do You Remember the HIPAA BAA? By Chuck Humphrey, B.A., EMT-B, CAC, CACO, CADS, * It was 2003… When the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 finally became a reality with regards to the relationship between a healthcare provider of service known as the Covered Entity and contracted service providers called the […]
Beware of the Compliance Warning Signs! Big Bucks! It has always been important for any ambulance billing program to follow the narrow road of compliance. But now more than ever and with big bucks on the line, it’s important that every EMS administrator heed the compliance warning signs. The headlines tell of those who either […]
Take Compliance Seriously- Or…It Will Cost You! In the News Recently, some scary EMS articles have been published. Here are some headlines… Fla. Ambulance company to pay 1.2M in federal whistle-blower lawsuit <Company name redacted> settles Medicare fraud suite for 12.7M Ambulance company owner sentenced to prison for fraud Feds crack down on Medicare ambulance […]
Compliance Isn’t Easy Being Deliberate If your EMS agency is going to strive to be 100% compliant with all of the rules and regulations that we all have to navigate in the EMS billing arena, then it means that your organizational culture must be deliberate. Compliance isn’t easy. The problem with what we have just […]
Railroad Medicare Cites 32.6% Denial Rate in Widespread Review Here we go again… The Railroad Medicare program, administered by government contractor Palmetto Government Benefits Administrators (Palmetto GBA) has published the results of their latest “widespread review” of BLS Non-Emergency Transports. Here we go again… Continually, our industry is turning in dismal audit results with this […]
Compliance by Accident…is an Accident Waiting to Happen! Out of Sight…Out of Mind How many of you reading this blog, right now, have a compliance plan located somewhere in your office or somewhere in the station? You know what I mean, that big binder book with a lot of paper, plenty of words that seemingly […]
Why is S. 967 So Important to the Ambulance Industry? Part IV S.967- Part IV Today we land Part IV of our blog posts dedicated to helping us all understand the importance of Senate Bill 967 entitled the “Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention and Reform Act of 2017.” In that opening post, we explained that […]
Why is S. 967 So Important to the Ambulance Industry? Part II S.967- Part II Last week, we opened this space with the first of four blog posts dedicated to helping us all understand the importance of Senate Bill 967 entitled the “Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention and Reform Act of 2017.” In that opening […]
A New Age of HIPAA Enforcement – What it Means for EMS by Ryan Stark-Page, Wolfberg & Wirth, LLC (Originally featured in the Zoll Data Blog on March 23, 2017; shared to benefit our clients and readers.) In 2016, the Heath Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) police levied far more penalties than ever before, […]
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 […]
