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Franklin County approves early purchase of ImageTrend billing bridge for EMS
Summary
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners approved buying and implementing the ImageTrend billing bridge to replace the county's current Respond/Inovalon billing workflow, citing technical problems and potential annual savings.
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners on July 16 approved buying the ImageTrend Billing Bridge and starting implementation ahead of the originally planned schedule.
Christie, an EMS staff member, told the board the county's current billing setup (Respond Billing feeding Inovalon) has persistent integration failures that require manual corrections, produce erroneous statements and force paper claims to Railroad Medicare and the VA. "Updates entered to one system failed to propagate correctly into the other system and then it results in us having to go in and do manual corrections and it gives us inconsistent data," Christie said.
Christie said the ImageTrend bridge integrates with the county's patient care reporting system, would eliminate redundant data entry, give the county direct control over patient statements and use Availity for electronic claim submission. She said the first-year implementation cost would be higher because it includes setup and training, but the county would save about $5,857.66 per year thereafter. Commissioners discussed the need for better tools and faster workflows.
A motion to approve the sales quote and implementation for ImageTrend, with an implementation cost reported at $14,270, passed unanimously.
Why it matters: county EMS billing errors can generate customer complaints and missed payments, and claims rejected by Medicare or other payers can delay reimbursements. Commissioners said improved integration and vendor implementation support are the principal benefits.
Board members who voted yes included Commissioner Sotomayor, Commissioner Wehmeyer, Vice Chair Meador, Commissioner Dickinson and Chair Harris.
The board directed staff to begin implementation immediately; Christie said she could have initial implementation activity under way as soon as the end of the week.
