363 and Counting! Cue the Shark Song! Da-dun. Da-dun. Da-dun, da-dun, da-dun… Can you hear it in your head? The “Jaws” theme playing as the fin approaches closer and closer through the water… It’s coming! No not a ferocious shark with big teeth but a big monster for sure and it’s called… ICD-10!!!!!!!!! Not a […]
Bill Extending Ambulance Bonus Payments, Delaying ICD-10 Passes Senate Last Minute Action With reimbursement cuts looming for the ambulance industry today, The Senate voted 64-35 in favor of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (H.R. 4302) late last evening effectively delaying those cuts. The bill now moves to President Obama’s desk for signing. […]
12 More Months/ICD-10 Delayed? Good News! Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a stop-gap measure to once again extend the ambulance bonus payments for another year. That’s really good news! Better News… But even better news was another part of the same bill passage. That part sets up a delay in the implementation of […]
Excellent Patient Care Provider? Prove It with Your Documentation! You’re the Best! In our opinion, everyone who’s ever taken a class and has become an EMS First Responder is the best! The question echoed by a very wise instructor one time, replays itself in the memory banks… “If not for you, then who?” Down through […]
Hop Aboard the ICD-10 Train! It’s coming… By now, if you’re a regular reader of these blog posts, you are well aware that ICD-10 is coming. As a reminder, ICD-10 is short for the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision. You can certainly look at our blog archives and check in with our full explanation […]
3 Things to Consider for your EMS Billing Program in 2014 Happy New Year! Well here we are, it’s January 2014. Happy New Year! We trust you had a wonderful holiday season. Now reality is back and already first responders across the United States have met the winter monster called “Hercules.” No rest for the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“My Belly Hurts!” Could it be a protruding alien creature? You’re on-call today. The pager trips and the dispatcher announces that the EMS system has been activated by a 57 year old male patient complaining of abdominal pain. Just because it’s Halloween your mind races to visions of aliens protruding from the patient’s abdomen in […]
