Grand County EMS asked the Board of County Commissioners for direction to implement a third-party payment portal, Payground, to allow patients to pay bills online and establish automated payment plans when the county’s new billing software goes live in January.

The EMS presenter said the portal would not retain personally identifiable financial data and that the treasurer’s office had no objections so long as deposits continued to flow to the county treasurer. EMS said the new portal could increase collections by removing barriers to online payment; it said Payground’s fees would be covered from payment-processing charges rather than by a subscription fee.

Why it matters: Moving to a user-facing online payment portal could increase patient convenience and municipal collections, reduce staff time handling payments, and change how payment-processing fees are allocated in the EMS budget.

Commissioners asked whether the cost was included in the 2026 budget and were told the work to implement Payground is included in the department’s 2026 budget and that the vendor work needs lead time to be ready when the billing system launches. The board took no on-the-record vote in the excerpt; staff requested direction to proceed with implementation work prior to a January go‑live date for the billing software.