Councilman Proposes Payment Before Ambulance Service

[dallasdame]

What do you think?

DALLAS -- A Dallas City Council member said he wants people to pay upfront before getting a ride to the hospital, NBC 5 reported.

Council member Mitchell Rasansky said if the call is not life threatening, first responders should ask the caller how they are going to pay for the ambulance ride to the hospital.

He said there would be no questions asked in a true emergency but said taxpayers have to pay millions every year for ambulance rides. He said his proposal is not so much about the bottom line, but about financial responsibility.

"Even when we send in those insurance claims, we still get charged a commission, why should we pay a commission. This is a way to save taxpayer money," Rasansky said.

At this point, the idea is only a proposal and Rasansky said he hopes his fellow council members will seriously consider it in the name of saving taxpayer dollars.

Dr. Paul Pepe, the director of Dallas EMS, responded by saying, "When in comes down to it, if there is an emergency or if there is a question, our job is to response and we will be there no matter what."

I think it's what we would LOVE to do but I'm pretty sure it'll go over like a terd in a punch bowl!

[FormerEMSLT297]

Ohh,, this won't open up a can of worms..... I can see some crew asking a patient with what they believe is a minor illness, and family members over hear to payment request, then if the patient ends up dying later,, LOOK OUT..

Grieving family member: "They were more worried about getting paid then helping my ...(insert title here) ..booo hoooo hoo,,,,,

I do think that it is a GREAT IDEA to cut down on the I have a clinic appointment rides,,,, but it is wrought with problems......

[AZCEP]

I could be wrong but isn't this an EMTALA violation waiting to happen?

Wallet biopsy has no place in EMS.

[Chief1C]

That'll be $42.50 plus fifty cents a mile..

[mediccjh]

That'll be $42.50 plus fifty cents a mile..

"I'll pay you as soon as you get her down to the hospital."

And the following is priceless............

[Just Plain Ruff]

do you take mastercard? Visa? American Express? Just swipe your card and go.

What's next, taking chickens in lieu of payment like the old country docs used to do.

I actually have a physician friend who treated an amish boy for a fractured hip from a fall from the roof of the barn he was helping build. You know, an Amish Barn Raising.

The Amish community pitched in and built the physician a new detached garage. He saved 20K on building costs and the amish family saved the entire cost of the medical procedure.

[JPINFV]

do you take mastercard? Visa? American Express? Just swipe your card and go.

Just add a credit card reader to the tough books and off you go. :twisted:

[Dustdevil]

I forget that some of you aren't old enough to remember when there were Bank Americard (predecessor of Visa) and MasterCharge (predecessor to MasterCard) decals on the ambulance doors, as well as a credit card imprinter in the cab. As late as the mid 1980s, there was still an EMS service in suburban Dallas that tracked the crews' on-scene/hospital collection rates and rewarded the top collecting crews.

Anyhow, Dallas already does paramedic initiated refusals, and even dispatcher initiated refusals, which has gotten them into significant trouble more than once. And since they keep getting spanked in court and the media over these boondoggles, I figure they're just looking at other ways to get out of doing their job.

I don't have a lot of faith in the ability of Dallas' shake-and-bake firemedics to competently assess their patients' conditions and needs. That is reason number one that I think this is not a good idea. Reason number two is that civil service firemonkeys simply won't play that game. The union will very quickly protest any efforts to make bill collectors out of the firemen, and they just won't do it, dooming the theory to failure before it even gets started.

The only good thing that can be said about Dallas EMS is that it is marginally better than Houston. :roll:

[dallasdame]

If they can't afford a cab, I seriously doubt they can afford an ambulance ride. I understand it puts a large burdon on the EMS to respond to non-emergent calls. Not only is it rediculous, it prevents these services from being available to actually emergencies. I'm not sure charging up front will correct the problem, it will only add new ones. Public education of the EMS systems is what is required. How about a public service announcement for every city via commercial on when to call an ambulance and when not to? That, I feel, would make more since and get the point across better.

[Dustdevil]

Only a very, very, very small portion of the population is capable of getting it, no matter how significant your educational efforts are. This is nothing they have any understanding of or interest in, so it just won't sink in. And those few people that do "get it" will FORget it when the shyte hits the fan, so you've wasted your time and money on the public education efforts for nothing.

You're on the right track. Education is the answer. But it is the providers that need more education, not the patients.