Ambulance software to expedite insurance claims in Idaho city

By Joelyn Hansen
The Idaho Falls Post Register

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — The city's plan to purchase $111,000 in ambulance computers and software should save time and money as it streamlines billing and patient care reporting.

If you use an ambulance in Idaho Falls, the city wants to get paid.

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To that end, the Idaho Falls City Council recently approved a fire department plan to buy $111,000 in ambulance computers and software that should help save time and money as it streamlines billing and patient care reporting.

"Historically speaking, the quicker you can get a bill out, the quicker you can get paid," IFFD Division Chief Rick Taylor said.

The city's plan is to pay $92,000 for software and $18,000 for eight mobile computers.

The ambulance budget expenditure should pay for itself within a year, as the fire department will be able send out medical bills faster, Taylor said.

Currently, reports are passed between four people before reaching the billing department.

All the hands ensure accuracy, completeness and proper medically coding, an important step if the department wants to get paid from insurance companies, Medicaid and Medicare in a timely manner, Taylor said.

The process sometimes takes up to 45 days, Taylor said.

With the new software, bills can be out in less than two weeks, as reports can be started or completed in the ambulance after a call.

The new system will also allow for the billing department to concentrate more on collecting unpaid bills, Taylor said.

The IFFD is the first in the region, as far as Taylor is aware, to install the new software in its ambulances. About 30 departments in the western United States have begun implementing the system.

All eight ambulances should be equipped with the new software by the end of the summer, Taylor said.

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