Starke County EMS Expands Electronic Billing

Posted on May 5, 2017
Author Mary Perren, WKVI

Starke County EMS is working to expand electronic billing in an effort to improve the efficiency of the service. Office manager Marylynn Richie is now able to electronically bill both traditional and railroad Medicare, BlueCross and Medicaid. By the end of the year she hopes to have all of the companies that can be billed electronically set up and running.

She told the Starke County Commissioners Monday that 195 of the 269 runs billed in April were done electronically. Richie says it saves time, especially with a vendor like BlueCross BlueShield, which has several different entities. She says the claims are sorted and sent to the correct BCBS vendor.

The electronic billing system also flags errors so they can be corrected immediately, which results in a faster payment turnaround time.

Starke County EMS Refining Electronic Claims Submission

Posted on April 7, 2017
Author Mary Perren, WKVI

The electronic billing process Starke County EMS is using to submit claims to BlueCross BlueShield is going well so far. Director Keith Emigh told the county commissioners Monday the service is tracking the time from billing to payment. He says the insurance company pays claims in the same time frame, regardless of whether they are mailed or submitted electronically.

The biggest difference is Starke County EMS is able to submit claims faster. Also, Emigh says the electronic filing process catches errors right away so they can be corrected and resubmitted.

Emigh also told the commissioners he’s in the process of applying for grants to purchase new equipment for the ambulances. Specifically he’s looking to upgrade the cots and monitors.