Published Mar. 7 in the Glasgow Daily Times

Glasgow ambulance board adopts new fee schedule in response to Medicare

By STACY L. NEITZEL
Glasgow Daily Times Staff Writer

GLASGOW — Board members of the Barren-Metcalfe Ambulance Service voted Wednesday to adopt a new fee schedule effective April 1 through the end of 2003. Under the new billing system, rate changes will vary with an increase in the cost of some services and a reduction in others. The new rates come as a result of a government mandated Medicare payment system issued last week.

Mike Swift, ambulance service director, told board members Wednesday afternoon at the Barren-Metcalfe Ambulance Service bimonthly meeting that STATCARE has signed a contract to purchase a new helicopter and should receive it within four to six months. The Barren/Metcalfe Emergency Medical Service is currently in the process of trying to obtain grant funding to build a structure to house the new helicopter. The structure would start out as a 100 x 100 foot helicopter pad located on the west side of the present runway. The initial plan calls for a public safety building to be constructed on site with a hanger in which to house the helicopter. Having an ambulance substation on the west side of town would speed response time to the Cave City, Park City, and Interstate 65 areas, said Swift.

In other business, the board voted to advertise and accept bids for the sale of an ambulance and a Life Pack unit. They also agreed to an established yearly meeting calender for 2002.

The board voted to keep the same slate of officers for 2002 as served previously during 2001. Judge Executive Freddie Travis agreed to continue serving as chairman of the budget committee and it was determined Glasgow Mayor Charles Honeycutt will serve as chairman of the personnel committee.

The operations report showed that 432 requests for service were received during December 2001. Of that number, 362 were made by the Glasgow/Barren County station while 70 were handled by the Edmonton/Metcalfe County station.

For the year, there were 6,193 requests for service, with 5,167 runs being made by the Glasgow/Barren County station and 1,026 by the Edmonton/Metcalfe County station.

During 2002, the ambulance service received 522 requests for service during the month of January. Of that number, 444 were made by the Glasgow/Barren County station while the Edmonton/Metcalfe County station responded to 78 calls for service. In February, a reported 503 requests for service were received. Of that number, the Glasgow/Barren County station made 444 and 59 were handled by the Edmonton/Metcalfe station.

There have been 880 responses year-to-date made by the Glasgow/Barren County station and 137 by the Edmonton/Metcalfe County station.

The summary for out of county runs during 2001 stands at 869 for the year or roughly 14 percent of the total run volume. Swift said there has been a significant increase in patient transports to Louisville.

The financial report revealed year-to-date billings of $911,105.27. The year-to-date collections stand at $638,769.18 with a collection percentage of 80.64 percent. Jason Chenoweth, financial director, reported an operational revenue for the year of $601,637.99 which compared to budget is 71 percent of the budget revenue. The deficit to date was reported as $425,466.29.

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