The Changing Regulatory EMS Billing Landscape The Landscape Has Changed If you read this space on a regular basis, you know that we frequently discuss the changing regulatory landscape. With Medicare and Medicaid comprising well more than half of all the dollars that flow into many EMS agencies, it’s important that we all understand the […]
Difficulty Breathing in an ICD-10 World Like a Brick We took the time to actually pick up and carry the “ICD-10 Book” the other day. This thing is like a brick. The book could anchor a small boat! ICD-10 is the new version of the International Classification of Diseases. This is a system of codes […]
When Compassion and Compliance Collide New initiatives By now many of you, especially those of you who provide scheduled, routine, non-emergency transports (ie. Dialysis, radiation, etc.) are becoming aware of a new Medicare trial initiative for pre-authorizing approval for claims submitted for these types of transports. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) chose […]
Documentation Skills and the Long-Time EMS Provider New Tricks You’ve heard the phrase; “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Well that may be true about canines, but it certainly isn’t the case with us humans. It’s especially not the case with EMS providers. Long-time EMS providers should have learned a long time ago […]
One Last Look at Ambulance Billing in 2014- What’s Next? You Deserve a Break! We’re going to make this our last blog post for 2014. You deserve a break! But before we sign-off to celebrate the season, we thought we’d take a moment to reflect on the year that’s been just one last time. Let’s […]
The End to Medicare “Back Billing” Save the Date! Mark this date on your calendar- February 3, 2015. This is the date that sweeping and historic changes will take effect for the Medicare program. Late last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule on the Medicare Incentive Program and […]
CMS Releases 2015 Zip Code Changes Affecting Ambulance Bonus Payments AAA Challenges CMS-Revisions Possible Change Announced Last week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule that sets in motion a significant shift in the way that geographical areas are determined to identify urban versus rural areas for ambulance fee schedule […]
Why so much personal information? Congratulations! So you say you’ve just been elected to the Board of Directors or you’ve become an Officer or both for your local EMS Agency. Congratulations! We applaud your willingness to step up to lend your wisdom and leadership capabilities to make a difference in the lives of those in […]
The “Continuous Monitoring” Factor for Inter-facility, Non-emergency Ambulance Transports From the Open Door Forum One of the staples of being an ambulance biller is religiously following any information provided by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Ambulance billers can easily follow CMS by participating in the Ambulance Open Door Forum audio-conferences. The Open […]
EMS Patient Care Report Writing | Documentation 101 | Part 9 – Medical Necessity The “Best” of the Ambulance Billing Services blog Two years ago we put together a “Documentation 101” series of eleven educational blogs, covering what we determined to be the fine points of writing an effective Patient Care Report. Since then, the […]
