Service information (i.e. years in service, geographical area served, # of customers, # of employees, # of calls handled yearly, services offered, etc):
Glenwood Fire Department was established in 1876 and was strictly volunteer until July 1, 2001. July 1, 2001 was the start date for a paid ambulance service, although Glenwood Volunteer Fire Association, Inc. had previously supplied EMS service to the residents of Mills County. Glenwood Volunteer Fire Association was a back-up provider to the local paid service prior to obtaining the July 1, 2001 award of the city contract. We are located in southwest Iowa and have provided services to Mills, Fremont, Cass, Montgomery and Pottawattamie counties during our seven years of service. Our current payroll consists of 19 paid EMS staff, which includes two full-time paid billing staff. We also have volunteer fire personnel that help staff ambulances as needed. Yearly call volume continues to rise; this year we will run 1,650 EMS calls to the approximate population of base of 6,000 residents in the city and a total of 15,000 county wide. We provide both BLS and ALS services on emergency and non-emergency transports. We are also the only full-time paid ALS service in the county, so we supply paramedic tier services to other rural departments. We run approximately 75% of the EMS runs in the county.
What makes your service unique?
We operate two-full time paramedic specialist crews in a small rural community. We believe we provide a very progressive set of EMS protocols to a rural community. The nearest hospitals for our service are more than 20 miles away. We have always believed in bringing the hospital to the patient and not taking the patient to the hospital. We carry CPAP systems, provide 12-lead ECG interpretation and protocols for active MI’s, Rapid Sequence Intubation, Intranasal drug administration, and prehospital initialization of IV drug infusions en route through infusion pumps. We also carry multiple drugs that are not carried by any other services in the region. We are frequently asked to help other volunteer agencies that are looking to transition to partial paid or full-time personnel. We are able to do all this because of the dedication of our company’s employees. These seasoned, experienced professionals constantly provide consistent patient care. As a rural Iowa EMS service, we are surrounded by “small town” communities, allowing the EMS staff to be familiar with medical histories and general personalities of our repeat patients.
How has Sweet-Field Data and Sweet-Billing changed the way you do your business?
With the Sweet-Field Data and Sweet-Billing software package, we have seen an enormous change. Charges are current within 24 hours of the run. We are able to work the claim immediately, giving us the ability to gain information for billing without delay. This has increased our accounts receivable significantly. The Field Data portion has made been beneficial in assuring more complete documentation. Additionally, the QA/QI process is now streamlined and we are able to pull the specific data that we want with the reports that are available. This used to be much more labor intensive by having to pull multiple reports and compile them. The Field Data module has simplified that process tremendously.
What impact has the Ortivus software had on the reimbursements turn around time?
The impact has been excellent to overwhelming. The software has provided the ability to charge and submit claims daily, generate statements in a timely manner, as well as, the ability to file 99% electronically. Claim turnaround takes place within the same thirty days as the initial billing. We are able to track private pay accounts more consistently and effectively. Our receivables are now down to about 7-10 days from the time of call. It is amazing!
What advice would you offer other EMS services that you wish you may have known when you first got into this business?
The cost for the Ortivus package seemed overwhelming at first. However, we realized the true value of it when we paid for it in the first 30 days we were using it. It has increased collections and decreased billing errors which has drastically cut down on time on our receivables. We tried a couple of other cheaper systems previous to this and realized our only mistake was not using the Sweet-Field Data and Sweet-Billing software sooner.
Any other information that you would like to include:
We highly recommend the entire system to other squads. We have already recommended it to several departments in the area when they hear of our success with billing. Fantastic product that you guys have and we thank you for making our business so much easier. It allows us to focus on patients and their families without having to worry. Thank you!!!!
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