Austin-Travis County EMS 2024 Annual Report

ANALYSIS. RESEARCH. DATA. IT. SUPPORT.

BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY

BILLING & FINANCE

WE MANAGE THE COMPLICATED DATA SO YOU CAN BE PRODUCTIVE IN YOUR DAy-TO-DAY

STAYING ON BUDGET, WHILE YOU STAY PROTECTED.

DYNAMIC TEAMS, PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS, AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT.

poster on the administration of a medication called Zyprexa for specific populations of psychiatric emergency patients, and if this intervention is helpful in deferring transport to an emergency room for stabilization.

Austin-Travis County EMS Billing is an in-house program to recover the costs of emergency medical services associated with transporting a patient to the hospital by ambulance. The Billing program bills insurance companies, government medical coverage plans, and patients for ambulance transport. Our team implemented an online form system to allow customers to submit updated demographic and insurance

“What would happen if we moved an ambulance from one station to another? What would happen to response times if Interstate 35 shuts down for one year? What if a Demand truck is changed from peak hours to a 24-hour ambulance?,” Optima Predict is useful for understanding what impact on performance major changes would have. ATCEMS continues to find new and innovative ways to incorporate M365 products into business processes, report on trends, and share these achievements on the ATCEMS online SharePoint page. The adoption of M365 products and features has flourished into several heavily used custom applications. The ATCEMS Whole Blood Program, Everbridge, and Daily Shift Report are a handful of applications that provide department staff and external partners with information instrumental to their line of business. ATCEMS started participating in the nationwide Pedi PART (pediatric airway resuscitation trial) along with 10 other major metropolitan areas. This study compares currently used airway interventions for children to determine which is more effective and provides better outcomes. ATCEMS will be presenting a research

to their insurance. The system allows customers to provide their information electronically without being limited to office hours or utilizing mail services for submissions. In FY24, our ATCEMS Billing Services division saw an outstanding achievement in billing revenue, thanks to the exceptional efforts of our billing personnel. Our original target of $28.7 million was surpassed by an impressive $7.2 million, with total billing revenue reaching $35.9 million. This 25% increase is a direct result of the hard work, attention to detail, and dedication of our billing team, who consistently go above and beyond to ensure accurate and timely billing. Additionally, our overall revenue reached $57.4 million, exceeding the target of $48.2 million by 19%. These remarkable results highlight the critical role our billing personnel play in the success of our EMS division. We are deeply grateful for their commitment to excellence, and we look forward to continuing to build on this success in the coming years. The ATCEMS Financial unit supports the department in a variety of ways such as creating the annual budget to provide the funding for EMS operations and monitors spending to ensure fiduciary responsibility. EMS Finance is responsible for all accounts payable

Previously known as the “Knowledge Management Division” or “Business Analysis and Research (BAR)” the Business Technology team consists of data, application, IT, and research service and support. This dynamic team gathers and analyzes data, produces internal and external reports, performs predictive analysis, manages patient care records and billing systems, IT contract management, and purchasing processes. We continue to further develop the ATCEMS SharePoint site and applications using the M365 Power Platform, and improve efficiency and reliability in utilizing cloud-based applications. Our team, along with ATCEMS stakeholders, find innovative solutions using our M365 products and technologies to improve our delivery of services to the community. Standardization has helped us provide consistent, reliable, and improved service to ATCEMS. We continue to support our ATCEMS programs to ensure their success with technology

and works to ensure all payments go out promptly. EMS Finance is also accountable for all revenue collection and accounting entries and reconciliations for the accurate posting of financial data. The ATCEMS Purchasing unit is responsible for creating and monitoring all the department’s contracts. They also support operations by placing all necessary orders for supplies needed in the field and other services, performing a vital role and work with multiple vendors to ensure operations has everything they needed to perform their duties.

MANAGING THE “WHAT IF” PROJECTIONS AND SUPPORTING DECISIONS WITH CRITICAL DATA

to improve their operability. We actively use our simulation

NATIONAL STUDIES WITH LOCAL IMPACTS

model for ambulance deployment, Optima Predict, to improve visibility. The model allows management to ask “what-if” questions such as

information when it is not obtained at the time of service, as well as submit authorizations to file claims

2024 ANNUAL REPORT

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