During the month of January, the ZOLL Pulse Blog was focused on tips and tools to help your EMS or Fire agency succeed in 2018. Check out the following roundup to learn how to bring EMS billing in house and become your agency’s billing pro, improve your ambulance operators’ performance, prepare your agency for an active shooter, make the most out of SUMMIT, and more.

9 Ways to Make the Most Out of Your SUMMIT Experience

It’s a new year, and we are introducing a brand new agenda format for SUMMIT 2018. We took the feedback from our post-SUMMIT 2017 attendee survey and used your suggestions to make this year’s event even better. We’ve moved keynote sessions to the afternoon and extended them, added even more networking opportunities, re-worked agenda content to be more searchable and focused on industry best practices and back by popular demand, you’ll be able to schedule dedicated time with our support team. Now that we’ve set the stage for another amazing SUMMIT, here are nine ways to get the most out of your conference experience. 

How to Monitor EMS Driver Performance

Driver safety doesn’t just affect crews and passenger, it affects the entire community. With increased adrenalin, lights and sirens, and all the other distracted drivers on the road, the need for the appropriate assessment of driving performance in first responders is increasing. Monitoring your agency’s driver performance regularly is key to creating a culture of safety within your organization. You need to address violations in a timely manner, but more importantly, understand the events surrounding the violation. It requires time and effort, often across multiple departments and amongst multiple employees. 

Drive Your Ambulance Like an Eagle with the Right Stuff

Pilots are supposed to have the “Right Stuff.” Sometimes they do! Paramedics and EMTs also need to have these traits as well. Two EMTs in an ambulance responding to a call and two pilots on a flight have stunningly the same challenges. About the only difference from my perspective having done both, aviation and EMS, for many years is that one vehicle goes there faster than the other. A huge difference is that one of them has a high likelihood of arriving safely, and the other, not so much. We use to refer to Motor Vehicle Accidents (MVA), but now use the phrase Motor Vehicle Crash (MVC). Few of these crashes were an “accident.” 

5 Ways to Prepare Your Agency for an Active Shooter

I’m not an expert. No one is. However, I think we can look back at past active threat incidents and glean some insight from those agencies that have run an active shooter to gain lessons for the active threat. I hope you never have to. But your mindset has to be not, if, but when. 

How to Bring EMS Billing In-House

The EMS billing environment has evolved into a complex, dynamic environment that requires a knowledgeable, professional staff. In the ambulance services industry, billing requirements are constantly changing because of increased reviews and submission requirements by Medicare, Medicaid, managed care and commercial insurers. Failure to be prepared to comply with specific billing requirements inevitably results in loss of revenue. Even more problematic are the government sanctions imposed because of incorrect billing procedures. You’ve already learned how to select your billing vendor as well as how to staff your new billing department. When bringing your billing in house, it’s also important to develop policies and procedures, train your new and existing staff, and finalize your budget. Be sure to include these three steps when bringing your EMS billing in house. 

Medic Ambulance is Changing Their Culture of Safety One Step at a Time with Road Safety

What led Medic Ambulance to implement a driver modification tool? We knew our drivers were at risk, and we knew we couldn’t afford to live in blissful ignorance forever. Here’s how we changed our culture of safety one step at a time. 

EMS Operations, Documentation & Billing: It's All About the Numbers

Welcome to 2018, a year of numbers that will influence operations, billing, documentation and compliance. Numbers like 35, the percentage increase in deaths from opiates in the past two years; 35 percent is a number that will continue to effect operations and challenge billing. There are good numbers like 14, the number of states where Anthem Blue Cross will reimburse “treatment without transport.” A scary number is 12. For the first time in a while, the rate of uninsured grew in the past year to over 12 percent. Numbers drive much of what we do daily, even low numbers like 2.

How to Drive EMS Billing Efficiency (& Revenue) Like a Pro!

When you walk into a Subway sandwich shop, you are expected to pay for your sub before you eat it. What if, instead of paying for that 12-inch Subway Melt, you asked your Sandwich Artist to bill you for the sub? You would likely go hungry. Unfortunately, there are many ambulance providers that are going hungry. We are providing services and merely hoping for reimbursement, and our situation continues to get worse. With a reduction in reimbursement rates and increases in denials (or general non-payment), our expenses are growing while our revenues dwindle. Your EMTs and paramedics will not allow you to defer compensation until you are reimbursed for the care that they provide – they expect to be paid on time, every time. Don’t believe me? Get ready to run the trucks by yourself! A consistent cash flow is key to running a successful organization. If you can’t keep the lights on, how are you expected to care for people?