County approves third‑party EMS billing contract expected to increase revenue

The Board authorized the county to contract with EMS Management & Consultants (EMSMC) for third‑party emergency medical services billing and collections to address technical and staffing issues and a backlog of accounts receivable.

At the presentation, EMSMC staff outlined their pricing and revenue expectations. EMSMC said a useful metric is cash per transport, which it estimated at about $435, and estimated annual gross revenue from transports at roughly $1,100,000 based on approximately 2,576 transports per year. EMSMC said its standard contract percentage is 4.75 percent and that claims already in the billing process (older AR) may incur an additional $8 fee per claim because of extra work; EMSMC said its pricing proposal is all‑inclusive and that the county should not expect additional hardware or software costs for integration.

Board members asked for clarity about backlog volumes and the split between new claims and older AR; EMSMC said the implementation process would include an account review to identify recoverable backlog dollars. The board asked the county chief to have EMSMC report back with more specific backlog figures during the implementation phase.

The motion to approve the contract authorization passed unanimously by roll call. Staff said they expect implementation work to begin and that the county will receive periodic reports on recovered revenue and operational metrics.