Toll Free: 877-602-2060
Be an EMS leader: Texas trends, increased reimbursements, staff improvement, legal issues
Texas EMS professionals, city officials and finance managers are invited to learn about the future of EMS, how to maximize staff performance, increase reimbursements, and engage in one-on-one conversations with legal and billing experts.
Texas-based, Texas-focused ambulance billing services company, Emergicon, will host Page, Wolfberg & Wirth, National EMS Industry Law Firm, for this complimentary seminar.
Please RSVP at 1-877-602-2060 or info@Emergicon.com
Westlake Fire Department hires Emergicon to increase ambulance billing reimbursements
The Town of Westlake announced that it has hired Emergicon, a Dallas-based ambulance billing services company, to increase reimbursements for emergency services it provides to North Texas residents. Westlake Fire Department expects that its new contract with Emergicon will result in a 20 percent increase in revenues targeted for the city’s general fund.
Westlake has generated approximately $100,000 annually from ambulance billing in recent years, but that number is expected to increase to at least $120,000 over the next year.
Emergicon collects reimbursements and payments for ambulance-related services used in emergency situations such as vehicle collisions.
“Our previous ambulance billing services company recovered very little of the costs associated with collisions. We expect that to change with Emergicon’s follow-up process for claims,” said Westlake Fire Department Chief Richard Whitten.
Coppell EMS Reports Significant Increase in Fee Reimbursements since Hiring Emergicon
The City of Coppell announced that since hiring Dallas-based ambulance billing services company, Emergicon, it has seen an increase of more than 200% in reimbursements for its EMS services. EMS Chief Gregg Loyd hopes some of the money could be used to buy life-saving equipment and training to better serve Coppell residents.
Revenues jumped from $162,000 to $600,000 since the city-run emergency services provider made the change from an out-of-state billing services company to Texas-focused Emergicon in the summer of 2011. Chief Loyd says customer service was an important part of the decision to hire Emergicon.
“It’s one thing to make a request and receive something – that’s good customer service. Being offered something before we even ask for it – that’s the great customer service we continue to receive from Emergicon,” said Chief Loyd. “The other company we used billed the grieving families of deceased patients even though that violates Coppell EMS policy. Since hiring Emergicon, it hasn’t happened even once. I am impressed with their ethics and processes.”
How Lousy Ambulance Billing Can Dirty a City’s Laundry
Your father buys the cheapest washing machine he can find. He wants to save a few bucks for the family. It cleans the laundry, though not very well. One Sunday morning, the machine leaks. The floor is ruined. The dry wall is damaged. The bill costs twice as much as a high quality washing machine. Even worse, the tenants in the apartment downstairs are going to sue you.
Cities and counties in Texas do this frequently with ambulance billing, costing their families (taxpayers) a significant amount of money.
When a person calls for an ambulance, a city’s fire department or private company hired by the city provides that service. Determining who is responsible for paying the bill is complicated. Does the patient pay? Their insurance company? Medicare? Or do taxpayers swallow the bill?
Municipalities often contract ambulance billing companies to handle filing the claims. Hiring the wrong company leads to increased complaints, decreased revenues, and major lawsuits.
For example, a North Texas city hired an ambulance billing company that looked good enough on the outside. After a while, the “washing machine” leaked. Not long ago, an auditor filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city contending the longtime ambulance billing vendor knowingly collected fraudulent overpayments from Medicare and Medicaid for 911 calls. The lawsuit filed on behalf of the state and U.S. against the city soon followed. Eventually, the North Texas city paid the federal and state governments $2.47 million to settle the lawsuit. Even though city leaders did not admit wrongdoing or liability, the whole thing could have been avoided. In the end, eleven more Texas cities were forced to settle similar lawsuits, costing these municipalities (and ultimately taxpayers) an additional $1.69 million.
Hidden Money: Ambulance billing can be a budget booster
Your heart drops. You’re filled with dread. You just found out the IRS is going to audit you. Did you make a mistake? Are they going to take your house? After talking with a skilled accountant, you begin the tedious task of collecting receipts and re-verifying income. Surprisingly, by the end of this stressful experience, you’re elated. Your accountant just found thousands of dollars that the government owes you from previous years. It looks like now you can pay off those college loans and fix the front steps, thanks to the hidden money your accountant found.
Municipalities have the same opportunity. In recent years, cities and counties have been forced to become more creative and industrious to find money for their coffers. One of the ways cities are boosting their bottom line is hiring an ambulance billing services company that offers “claims recovery.” This is when an EMS billing company painstakingly turns over every stone and finds money that was overlooked, given up for gone and simply deemed unrecoverable. This type of service is performed by few because it takes highly trained staff combing through an organization’s accounts receivable history to find ambulance bills that are unpaid, but lawfully still recoverable whether by Medicare, Medicaid, insurance companies or by individuals.
It’s unfortunate, but cities and counties across Texas are being forced to perform emergency services with smaller budgets while at the same time having to charge patients more. Emergency service providers are doing their best to minimize the risk to public safety but shrinking budgets and their effects are a modern reality.
Your patients’ personal information is safe here: An Open Letter to EMS providers from Emergicon President/CEO Christopher Turner
Dear friends –
There has been a series of alarming news reports in Texas and across the country about ambulance patients receiving letters stating that their personal information was improperly accessed by an EMS billing services company employee participating in a scheme to file false tax returns. According to a press release issued by the company, a law enforcement investigation “revealed unauthorized access and, in certain instances, disclosure of personal information, which may include name, social security number, and date of birth.” The release goes on to say that “with the company’s help, the authorities identified the employee who admitted the crime. The employee was immediately terminated.”
The matter reported by media does not affect Emergicon, our employees, our clients, or any of their patients.
We are, nonetheless, concerned by reports such as these, because we know how hard you work to build and maintain a relationship based on trust with the residents in your communities. At Emergicon, we want to assure you that extensive measures are taken here to prevent any kind of data breach.
- Background checks are performed for every Emergicon employee.
- Enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission’s FACT Act Flag Rules, a program to prevent Identity theft. This includes implementation of a written program to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft.
- Staff members are educated about identity theft, including its consequences.
- All staff activity on Emergicon’s computers, phones and other office equipment is recorded, tracked and auditable.
- Security cameras monitor activity throughout our offices.
- Emergicon’s information technologies director ensures client and patient data is protected from internal and external breech.
- Continuous self-auditing
- Ongoing security training for staff
- Ongoing Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement process
- Emergicon focuses on quality, not quantity. We spend a significant amount of time manually scrutinizing client records, greatly reducing the risk of fraud while increasing the likelihood of detecting irregularities.
Texas ambulance billing services company continues expansion with opening of new facility
Dallas-based ambulance billing services company Emergicon marked six years of continuous business growth and success Thursday night with an open house reception and tour of its new Emergicon Reimbursement Services facility in Gun Barrel City, Texas. Local elected officials, members of the community and business leaders joined current clients and staff to celebrate the company’s expansion.
“It’s great to see Emergicon enjoying success and helping to grow jobs in Texas,” said Gun Barrel City Economic Development Corporation board president, Steve Webster. “Our local communities rely on well-managed companies like Emergicon to help build this economy. We’re glad the company chose to expand their reimbursement services operation here.“
Christopher Turner is the president and CEO of Emergicon and is a resident of Dallas. While serving as the chief financial officer of CareFlite, the second oldest air medical transportation service in Texas, Turner saw a great need for a better way of processing ambulance claims. With only two employees, he started Emergicon in 2006 to offer better and more effective billing services to EMS providers. Today, Emergicon employs more than 25 Texans and the company continues to grow. Turner believes his expertise in healthcare management supported by a knowledgeable staff offering 50 years of collective industry experience are the reasons for the company’s success.
“It takes human know-how and resolve to achieve the kind of results we deliver. Our staff and the top customer service we provide continue to raise the bar in the ambulance billing services industry,” said Turner. “We know the more reimbursement we secure for our clients, the more revenue they have to spend on important municipal programs or, in the case of our private clients, better equipment and more staff. I’m excited to see we’re making a difference in the communities we serve.”
Willacy EMS hires agency to collect debts
BY TONY VINDELL - Reporter
In an effort to collect more money from the services it provides, the Willacy County Emergency Medical Services has hired a collection agency to bring in more bucks for its services.
Dallas-based Emergicon signed a contract in September in hopes of getting an increase in reimbursements from those served by the county’s EMS.
Christopher Turner, the company’s founder, said Emergicon serves some 40 clients since it was founded in 2006.
“We believe in billing quickly and securing reimbursement effectively,” he said. ‘With every dollar recovered from Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies, emergency providers like Willacy County EMS will have more to spend on better training, important services or, in the case of Willacy County, new potentially life-saving equipment.”
Frank Torres, the county’s EMS director, is crossing his fingers also hoping to see an increase in bills paid.
“We are also complying with federal regulations as everything is going computerized,” he said. “This is going to help us tremendously.”
Glenn Heights hires local EMS billing service provider to boost budget, improve customer service
Municipalities across the country are looking for new ways to bring more money into city coffers without having to increase taxes. City officials in Glenn Heights, located in Dallas and Ellis Counties, are doing this by hiring Emergicon, a Texas EMS billing services company.
“We expect to see increased collections which will provide additional funds for the budget,” said Chief of Police/Acting Public Safety Director Phillip Prasifka. “Also, taxpayers will see increased customer satisfaction and improved consistency, in regards to ambulance billing.”
Willacy County EMS Seeks Better Reimbursement of Fees, Hires Texas EMS Billing Services Company
Ambulance services provider, Willacy County EMS, plans to buy new life-saving equipment with fees collected by recently hired ambulance billing services company, Emergicon. Based in Raymondville, Texas, Willacy County EMS contracted the Dallas company to help secure better reimbursement for emergency services it provides residents of south Texas.
Willacy County EMS, which previously handled its own billing, decided to switch to Emergicon after hearing from other emergency medical services providers in the Valley. “We talked with three other regional providers and got very favorable reports about Emergicon. They’ve all seen a marked increase in reimbursements for their emergency services. We expect that we’ll see similar results,” said Frank Torres, EMS director for Willacy County.
Emergicon is Texas’ premiere ambulance billing services company, serving private and public EMS service providers in the Lone Star State since 2006. The company bills more than 100,000 runs each year for its growing list of 40 Texas-based clients. Known for their high quality of service and reliable results, Emergicon EMS billing and claims recovery experts are proud that every one of their clients has increased reimbursements since hiring the company.
