A couple of years ago I had our folks in the Bureau of EMS and Trauma System write a guidance document on what we believe is appropriate to include in ambulance contracts. We noticed that these contracts were getting very complicated and included a whole lot of stuff that was very expensive… but that didn’t have much to do with improving clinical care or outcomes- so we drew some lines in the sand regarding what kinds of costs can be included in the contracts.
Interestingly, a recent opinion came out from the Federal Agency (Office of inspector General) that is charged with being a watchdog for Medicare. The opinion covers much of what is in our guidance document – it’s nice to see our hard work validated. It’s also nice to know we were a few years ahead of the curve!
