Wednesday, February 18, 2004

 

Medical group helps emergency agencies with billing

 

By Richard Craver

WINSTON SALEM JOURNAL REPORTER

 

CLEMMONS

 

A Clemmons medical-services company is providing a financial lifeline to public, volunteer and private emergency agencies dealing with tight budgets.

 

EMS Management & Consultants Inc., founded in 1996, handles the billing and reimbursement services for Medicare and private insurance for nearly 80 clients, including the counties of Catawba, Davie, Guilford, Wake and Yadkin.

 

"We're diligent about going after the reimbursement again and again until our clients get paid what they have coming to them for providing their services," said Bob Russ, the company's operations director.

 

EMS Management originated from an idea of Chad-Aaron Williams, the president of the company, while he worked as a paramedic for Forsyth County Emergency Medical Services.

 

"Many volunteer rescue squads don't have the personnel or the time to follow up on rather complex reimbursement claims with Medicare and private insurance," Williams said. "They would ask for donations or hold chicken stews to raise funds. But they didn't have a direct reimbursement system for services rendered.

 

"Local governments contract with us because we specialize in these billings and we can do it more efficiently than they can," he said.

 

The company's client mix is 60 percent government agencies, 30 percent volunteer rescue squads and 10 percent private companies. A client pays EMS Management up to 10 percent of what the company collects.

 

EMS Management expects to reach $100 million in revenue collections this month. It handles about $5 million a month in net collectible billing charges and averages the collection of $3 million in reimbursements a month.

 

The company's efficiency in collecting reimbursement revenue persuaded Yadkin County to hire EMS Management in October, said Dale Trivette, the emergency-management director for the county.

 

"We believe they will collect a higher percentage of the collectible reimbursements than we could given our limited staff size," Trivette said.

 

"They are better equipped to handle the HIPAA (federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) patient-privacy concerns than we are, and they keep us up to date on insurance issues.

 

"As the reimbursement revenue increases, we expect to become less of a burden on the county budget and thus less of a burden on the Yadkin County taxpayer," he said.

 

EMS Management has grown from two employees working out of Williams' house in 1996 to 45 at its office in Clemmons Executive Park. Among its workers are former employees of QualChoice of North Carolina and Partners National Health Plans of North Carolina Inc.

 

The company expanded significantly in 2003 despite the sluggish local economy, investing $300,000 in software and equipment and adding 10 employees. Its Web site - www.emsbilling.us - was updated in December to offer clients access to their accounts.

 

The company is considering adding a second shift and more employees as it expands into Tennessee and Virginia. Williams said that the company is targeting EMS billing contracts for metropolitan cities outside the Southeast.

 

"While we are the only billing service like ourselves in the state, we realize that the competition is increasing as providers move into each other's territories," Williams said.

 

"That means we have to continue to improve our efficiencies and technology to provide the best service possible."