We'll start this post by investigating the information management solutions currently available. After that, we'll look at how the AIM System is strategically positioned to optimize and implement those solutions to best meet your ambulance information management needs.
After delivering quality patient care, the most essential aspect of any EMS/ambulance service provider’s successful business is to maintain and manage accurate, dependable ambulance reporting information.
Ambulance information management, quite simply, is a comprehensive approach in EMS tracking collection, storage, and manipulation of pre-hospital care data and documentation.
The proper management of this data and documentation helps organizations—
Custom analyzing or reporting of data can help substantially reduce operational costs by establishing efficiencies through automation, provide critical analysis of trends and performance indicators, and produce accurate, dependable records of services and pre-hospital patient contacts.
All of these factors contribute immensely to a profitable EMS provider’s bottom line.
In this post, we'll focus on the information management needs of EMS/ambulance service providers and provide an overview of the alternatives commonly employed to meet these vital ambulance information management needs.
Managing a fast-paced EMS service comes with many challenges. On the patient-care side, one of the most important challenges is managing and storing necessary medical, patient care reports, and billing data. Equally important to the business side of an EMS service is managing the processing and collection of receivables in a constantly changing and increasingly difficult regulatory environment.
Unquestionably, one of the most important functions of an EMS provider is to collect and maintain vital medical and patient care information for its responders’ own use and to communicate that information to other medical providers. The creation and maintenance of concise and accurate electronic patient care reports (ePCR) is an essential tool in providing the most appropriate patient care.
Similarly, maintaining accurate billing data is paramount to getting paid! Without solid, reliable billing data, and without a tried and true process for submission of claims, EMS providers face a daunting, and at times, seemingly insurmountable task in collecting payment from a wide variety of potential payment sources, huge factors contributing largely to whether an EMS provider’s business succeeds or fails.
The information management needs of EMS providers are currently met through a variety of methodologies, each having unique pros and cons.
The remainder of this post will describe the currently available alternatives commonly utilized by the EMS industry. A more thorough analysis of each methodology and how the AIM System can provide EMS and ambulance service providers with custom solutions utilizing those methodologies will appear in upcoming posts.
Basically, there are 4 alternatives to addressing the information management needs of an EMS/ambulance service provider:
Not much needs to be said about alternative number 1—it's the old-school, paper-only, manual data entry method.
If an EMS service is not utilizing some form of technologically-driven automated ems tracking system or information management process, it will undoubtedly be unable to realize the efficiencies and cost-savings built into virtually any available solution currently on the market.
It's better to have an automated intelligent information management solution rather than manual record-keeping and invoice submission. There are many reasons why; here are a few.
The second alternative is on-site EMS software. Maintaining an on-site software solution is an often-used approach by EMS providers to increase production and reduce costs through automating the data collection, storage and billing process as described throughout this white paper.
Typically, in an on-site solution, software is installed and all data is kept locally on computers or servers that are housed on the site of the EMS provider.
On-site software allows a provider to maintain its own computers and EMS software installations and is particularly suitable when a provider has on-site management of its system administration, technical support, and networking staff already engaged.
The third alternative, online software functions similarly to on-site software, but instead, the software and data are stored off-site on servers maintained by someone other than the EMS provider.
Generally, this solution allows access to the software on a 24 hour, 7 days a week basis, via any secure internet connection. This solution significantly reduces the cost of maintaining hardware and software compared to an on-site software solution while still permitting comprehensive access to a provider’s software and data from anywhere at any time.
The fourth and final alternative is billing specific. Billing services are provided by experienced EMS billing service companies, and typically provide two arrangements for medical billing services: on-site and online.
On-site billing services allow providers to use the software but without access to online EMS software and data management solutions described previously.
Online billing services allow providers to use the service plus 24/7 access to all software, data, records, and reports. It also eliminates the need for maintaining on-site software and systems, and the need for training and keeping qualified in-house billing personnel.
In this post, the critical information management needs of EMS/ambulance service providers have been explored and an overview of the alternatives commonly employed to meet information management needs given.
At this point EMS and ambulance service providers should be asking themselves, “How do we manage our critical information, and are we getting the most out of our current information management solution to best meet our needs?”
If you’re not sure, or if you believe that you are not getting everything you can or should out of your information management solution, then we encourage you to learn about our Online Dispatch, ePCR, and Billing services.
To discover what the AIM System Online EMS Software can do for your business, we urge you to call 800.726.4690, email us at sales@ramsoftware.com, or click the button below.
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