Southwest Recovery Services has expanded its debt collection services for EMS and ambulance providers to address low collection rates, high claim denial rates, and surprise billing. The contingency-based process targets billions of dollars in annual lost revenue due to documentation errors and out-of-network charges.
-- Southwest Recovery Services (SWRS) has expanded its specialized debt collection and account recovery services to address the financial challenges facing EMS and ambulance service providers, as a joint national study by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) and the Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration (AIMHI) shows that American ambulance service providers lose an estimated $4.5 billion annually in uncompensated care.
More information is available at https://www.swrecovery.com/industries/medical-and-healthcare-collections/ems-debt-collections/
The expansion responds to longstanding issues resulting from field documentation inconsistencies, varying payer requirements, and compliance risks that distinguish ambulance billing from other healthcare sectors. Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (GADCS) datasets reveal that ambulance providers face high claim denial rates, with nearly one in five ambulance transports going unpaid. CMS Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) Denial Trend Logs also confirm that documentation errors account for 40% of rejections.
The move by SWRS to support EMS service providers comes at a time when policy data and ground reports agree that approximately 51% of emergency ground ambulance rides for privately insured patients include out-of-network charges that create surprise billing risk, leaving both patients and providers vulnerable to financial uncertainty. This revenue loss compounds the broader medical debt crisis affecting healthcare organizations' ability to maintain operations and profitability while delivering emergency services.
The federal No Surprises Act, which became effective on January 1, 2022, protects most healthcare services from surprise billing. However, ground ambulance services were explicitly excluded from these protections. Surprise ambulance bills can average $450 but often reach thousands of dollars, with approximately 28% of emergency ground ambulance transports resulting in potential surprise bills. This regulatory gap leaves EMS providers without the federal safeguards available to other healthcare sectors, the team explains.
As such, SWRS offers EMS-specific collections based on a deep understanding of ambulance billing, field documentation requirements, payer variations, and compliance risks. Collectors adhere to HIPAA and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, treating patients with respect and empathy throughout the recovery process. The company's early-out program for healthcare focuses on pre-collection recovery designed to enhance cash flow and financial stability for providers struggling with unpaid patient accounts.
"Locating and reaching patients who have not updated their contact information, strengthening follow-up with Medicare and other insurance companies, and offering appropriate payment options to the patient or responsible party are some of the services we can offer you," stated an SWRS spokesperson.
For more details, visit https://www.swrecovery.com/
Contact Info:
Name: Steven Dietz
Email: Send Email
Organization: Southwest Recovery Services
Address: 16200 Addison Road Suite 260 , Addison, Texas 75001, United States
Phone: +1-866-584-0933
Website: https://www.swrecovery.com/
Source: PressCable
Release ID: 89195873
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