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City consultants: Hallandale Beach EMS billing and collections lag; deficit could grow $4M by 2030
Summary
Emergency services consultants told the Hallandale Beach City Commission that ambulance billable volume is heavily ALS, collections are limited by payer rules and the city's EMS cost gap may widen by about $4 million over five years without changes.
Consultants presented a multi-year analysis of Hallandale Beach’s emergency medical services (EMS) revenue and collection practices at the City Commission meeting on Jan. 8, saying the city faces a growing shortfall unless billing, documentation and policy changes are made.
Cassandra Lee of Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) told the commission that most billable incidents are advanced life support (ALS) emergencies — “about 3,000 incidents per year” — while basic life support (BLS) transports are fewer than 1,000 annually. She summarized the city’s payer mix as heavily weighted to Medicare and noted that Medicare pays allowed rates limited by federal rules.
Lee said gross ALS charges average about $2.6 million annually and that…
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