The Journal of Emergency Medicine reported that in 2017, commissioners in Palm Beach County, Florida approved writing off $11.8 million in “uncollectable emergency transport patient accounts.” The city of Berkeley, California, reported a five-year average of uncollected ambulance fees amounting to $2.6 million per year.

Can you afford that type of financial hit? Of course not. The real question is, what can you do about it? As with many business problems today, the solution lies in smarter technology. Billing software solutions for EMS and healthcare organizations continue to come on to the market promising to make sure you get paid for everything you do. But beware: Not all are created equal.

Before you commit to a billing software solution, be sure it will meet your needs. Here are seven things you should demand in the one you ultimately choose.

1. Automated Workflow

The highest hurdle–and the space where your team spends most of its time–is on the front end of the billing workflow. Getting all the information properly populated is often a manual process that requires your front-end team to toggle between different systems. The more times your staff must touch a claim, the greater the human resource expense and the increased chance of errors that could result in problems collecting payment.

Knowing this, we created Logis Billing to eliminate the need to chase after needed information with real-time integration that ensures correctly populated invoices. Information from a 911 call or schedule request goes directly into billing and is combined with demographics and call specifics.

Look for a billing solution that automatically configures tasks, defines workflow steps, sets up queues and schedule rules, and uploads allowables. Level of service should be auto-populated and determined by medications/procedures within the electronic patient care record (ePCR) at the time of service. The result: a streamlined workflow from claims creation to pre-bill to claim submission in a single task that also allows your team to work on multiple billing periods at a time.

Lastly, payment posting should also be automated through your clearinghouse, so claims are submitted in real time without waiting to batch them up. Freeing up staff from laborious manual steps like these allows them to focus on more value-add activities, like following up on claims that have been denied or paid incorrectly.

2. Verification and Validation

Verification and validation in the front-end process is an area that consumes a huge amount of staff resources. Your billing software should enable rapid geo-validating and automatic integration to find the patient’s insurance, something not always easy to obtain upfront. The integration between Logis Billing and Solutions Group enables demographics and insurance verification along with deductible monitoring directly from the automated workflow.

Your software should automate the integration of ePCRs and alert you to any differences or discrepancies. Once detected, it’s easy for your staff to make corrections quickly by choosing the options prominently displayed in front of them. This not only reduces dat

a entry time but also dramatically reduces the number of errors like undercoding or overcoding made during claims processing that can cause denials and increase your risk of an audit.

3. Visibility and Tracking

If you can’t see it, you can’t manage it. Without clear visibility into your billing process, it’s impossible to detect and correct problems that may be slowing your reimbursements. Reports offered by some EMS billing software vendors must be manipulated and run multiple different ways and, in the end, may still not provide you with the type of information you need.

When choosing a vendor, look for a customer service or implementation team that will work with you to create a report(s) that pulls in all your needed information from multiple sources. For example, maybe your staff wants to customize your aging report and pull data up by gross charges, contractual allowances, net charges, adjustments and payments. Having this information at your fingertips is extremely valuable for senior executives who need to conduct a high-level review of your accounts. Customized reports make it easy to quickly see where your revenue is sitting in receivable buckets so you can better focus your collection efforts.

The Schedule Rules feature built into Logis Billing automatically moves claims from one workflow to the next, without requiring manual intervention. This enables real-time tracking of your claims payments and provides alerts for late payments, freeing your team up to focus on the exceptions to the rules.

 4. Flexibility and Customization

There’s nothing worse than purchasing a rigid, one-size-fits-all billing solution that requires you to change your entire workflow. That type of solution rarely yields the efficiencies you’re looking for since it wasn’t created with your organization’s unique needs in mind.

Not only can you configure Logis Billing to deliver the specific reports you need, you set up the rules, processes and views so your workflow matches the way you actually operate. Logis provides you with the tools to build your billing system in a way that works for your business; and of course we’re there if you need more support.

5. Third-Party Systems Integration

No EMS agency is an island; so much of what you do requires interfacing with third-party databases to properly complete the billing process. That makes seamless integration a must-have.

Logis Billing integrates easily with ePCRs like Health EMS and ImageTrend by receiving NEMSIS-compliant XML files via Web Service with PDF PCR Report. It also connects with the Waystar claims clearinghouse and Solutions Group for demographics and other information. Whatever solution you opt for should allow the same simple integration and interoperability for the third parties you work with.

The benefits of easy integration include the ability to pull in signatures from the same task page and access patient care reports that change as the patient changes without having to go back to a website to reenter the information.

 6. Ongoing Training and Support

The journey doesn’t end once you implement a billing solution; there should be ongoing training and support to ensure that you get the most out of the system. Ask any vendors you’re considering about initial and ongoing training and whether making changes to your system will incur extra charges. If your team is trained well, you should find that many, if not all, new configurations can be handled in-house, allowing you to continually evolve your billing solutions as your business changes, too.

It’s worth mentioning that at Logis we continually offer upgrades and updates (the healthcare billing landscape is always changing, after all) that require little to no downtime. Our in-house development team means we have maximum control over the program’s development, including full native support for multiple hot stand-by environments.

7. Robust ROI

We can hear the big question likely running through your mind at this point: What’s this going to cost me? That’s a valid question when you’re purchasing a billing software platform. However, a more valid question might be, what value do I get from it? An automated, integrated, efficient solution ensures that you submit clean claims faster, minimizing billing errors and denials. This accelerates your revenue cycle with faster collections and less bad debt, greatly enhancing your cash position.

The efficiency you gain by automating the process with Logis Billing also enables you to repurpose staff to other activities, which will minimize the need for additional hires and lower your overhead costs. We believe it’s worth considering these and the other benefits discussed in this post as you consider which EMS billing software is the best fit for you and your organization.

 If you’d like to talk about how Logis Billing can help streamline your billing operation and accelerate your revenue cycle, we’d love to start a conversation.

The post 7 Must-Haves to Ease the Pain of EMS Billing appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

If you’ve ever had to put a new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system in place, you know that one of the biggest headaches is typically getting it to work with the software you already have. Integration and interoperability is such an important topic that it’s worthy of a deeper dive.

Most of the organizations we work with who are in the market for a new CAD tell us that in the past, integrating new software with existing software has been a very painful process for them. That’s why when we started Logis Solutions we focused on interoperability before anything else. In fact, our integration platform was the very first thing we created—even before we developed our CAD, Logis IDS. After all, the best dispatch software in the world isn’t worth much if it can’t work with the other software our customers use or need to easily share information. When systems don’t communicate with one another, a few things tend to happen (stop us if these sound familiar):

• You find yourself having to maintain data in more than one place.

• You have to re-enter data (often manually) into another system(s), which takes up staff time and raises the likelihood of mistakes. For example, it’s not uncommon for agencies to enter information into crew scheduling software and then need to type that same information into a CAD.

• You need one piece of software to report something back to another, but you haven’t found a way to do that (or your vendor told you it wasn’t possible for the two systems to work together).

• Your legacy mainframe system has data in it—but you haven’t been able to connect it to new software to extract that information.

So the “CAD of the Future” (as we like to call it) must have interoperability at its core. What does that mean, exactly, when you’re researching a new CAD to buy? Here are a few things to consider to ensure you purchase a fully interoperable dispatch system:

1. Your dispatch software should be simple to integrate with the software you already use or want to implement, whether that’s for booking non-emergency transports, ePCR solutions, patient lookup services, billing, staff scheduling or other resource management needs— or all of the above. In other words, any vendor you’re considering should talk about interoperability as part of your CAD—not an “extra.”

2. You shouldn’t have to modify your CAD or take it offline to integrate it with other software. At Logis, our integrations functionality sits on its own platform, which means we can create interoperability between our software and other software without changing your dispatch system or disabling services. So when we do an integration, we effectively put in place a firewall that also helps protect your CAD. Also important: A modern system ensures your dispatch, billing and resource management software are always kept up-to-date over time. No need to go offline for upgrades.

3. You shouldn’t pay for development hours to integrate with the most commonly used software. When we develop a custom integration for a client for the first time, that same integration is available to any of our subsequent clients at no cost beyond the time it takes to install it. (In other words, we don’t charge future customers again for the development or for licensing.) We have many existing integrations that are easy to put in place because they’ve already been deployed successfully, often in numerous other cases. And if you decide you want to build your own integration, you have access to Logis’s open APIs built on the latest technologies. Any vendor you choose should offer you the same options.

Interoperability isn’t just a nice-to-have feature, but one that makes a significant impact on organizations and the communities they serve. For agencies who bill for EMS services, for example, interoperable systems are better for staff, patients and the bottom line. An integrated billing solution, whether you choose Logis Billing or another product, means there’s no re-entering information into a separate system, which can cause delays or errors that impact revenue. Similarly, when your CAD “talks” easily to an ePCR, the call-taking and patient look-up processes are simplified, and your telecommunicators can deliver the most accurate patient information to your crews in the field, improving patient care and crew safety.

The “CAD of the Future” has the ability to scale across everything from a decades-old legacy dispatch system to an integration with truly bleeding-edge software. Given that there are EMS, fire service, and 911 systems across this entire spectrum, the best possible dispatch software must be able to connect them all and—just as important— support agencies and organizations all along the way as they move toward NG911 and other upgrades.

To read more about the “CAD of the Future,” or if you’d like to learn more about how Logis Solutions can help you find the CAD that’s right for you, please reach out.

The post The CAD That Plays Well With Others appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

Computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems can be stressful for agencies — choosing one, implementing one, getting your team to embrace one, and ensuring your CAD continues to work for your organization and support your needs long after onboarding.

But first-rate dispatching software is worth its weight in gold. Especially these days. Technology has advanced to the degree that your CAD can now use predictive artificial intelligence to deploy your fleet, automate planning and easily integrate with products you already use, to name a few benefits.

That’s why you can (and should) expect more from your CAD than ever before. Our free Ebook explores the most important elements of what your dispatch system should do for you and provides guidance for making those typical CAD headaches less painful. Its valuable insights will help you:

• Pick the right CAD for your organization
• Lead your team through a smooth implementation process
• Know what you should expect (dare we say demand?) when it comes to CAD interoperability
• Keep your CAD cutting-edge with software upgrades, analytics and beyond

The post The CAD of the Future appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

In this webinar with the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Logis CEO, Gil Glass, is joined by our friends at Emergent Health Partners in southeast Michigan who implemented a new CAD to help them more effectively and efficiently dispatch multiple fire and EMS organizations. Learn about the CAD of the future and how it will transform the fire service.

The post How CAD Technology Can Better Help You Serve Your Community appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

Once again, and for the 15th time, EMS leaders came together for Pinnacle, held this year in Phoenix, Arizona. And once again the schedule was packed with a wide variety of seminars on recruitment and retention, technology, quality improvement, clinician mental health and well-being, policy, funding, and, of course, COVID-19. It was great to see familiar faces after so long and to make some new connections.

Now that I’m back, I’ve had some time to consider what I heard and saw. Here are a few highlights I brought home from Pinnacle 2021:

It’s time to truly embrace technologies that deliver quality improvement (QI). EMS organizations have always had data (even if it’s sometimes of questionable quality). But we haven’t always known what to do with it. But now there are more and better options for applying it than ever before.

For starters, I think of the work that Dr. Freddy Lippert and his colleagues are doing in Copenhagen, Denmark. More specifically, his recent research finding that machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence (AI), can accurately predict sudden cardiac arrest during an emergency call based on information derived from “listening” to tens of thousands of previous calls. Research like this could help enable faster delivery of the right care and better patient outcomes.

QI also means integrating the currently disjointed systems with one another. We need systems that talk to one another—meaning the EMS system, the fire services system, the hospital system—so there is a continuum of care. That itself leads to improved quality and a reduction in errors, and it’s also where you get a more holistic patient experience.

Just as important, that integrated experience lets your caregivers focus on the right things. For example, if I’m a paramedic in the back of an ambulance and the ePCR is delivering validated patient data from the CAD, I don’t have to waste time looking for it or entering it manually. I’m able to focus on taking care of that patient. These are the things that help drive quality. Another benefit: A more holistic system gives you an even stronger pool of data, so you can take predictive AI to the next level.

We have to focus more on the “why.” Clearly, I’m a big believer in the value of technology to help solve problems in our industry and far beyond. And it was great to see so many technology providers, with a wide range of solutions, at Pinnacle. But Jay Fitch of Fitch & Associates offered everyone at the conference an important reminder: Know why you’re doing something before you tackle it. So before your agency or service purchases anything, it’s essential to know what you’re trying to accomplish and if your focus is on quality improvement, what, exactly, will you measure and why?

As an industry, EMS is getting better at questioning long-held beliefs like the use of lights and sirens and using response times as a meaningful metric, but we still need to do better at pushing ourselves to define the problem we’re solving and using evidence-based data to make decisions. So if, say, we want to track patients, we need to be able to answer why we’re doing so. Is it to improve survival rates? Patient satisfaction scores? Getting to the core of that helps us make much better decisions with respect to any technology (or other solutions) we choose to invest in.

Technology can help address EMS’s biggest challenge: staffing. A recurring theme at the conference (though not a new one) was the critical need to find more and better ways to recruit and retain staff. More than a few communities are in dire straits due to the very high rate of turnover, the result of low pay, the emotional and physical toll of the job, lack of opportunities for advancement and other factors. Dispatchers are also in short supply in many places. This, again, is where technology can help. For example, with our Logis IDS CAD, when predictive analytics are applied to handle and dispatch routine calls, telecommunicators are available for call-taking and customer service on far more complex calls that require a human touch.

Even better, an intelligent CAD that’s informed by AI delivers more detailed, real-time visualization of incidents, giving your call-takers better information and responders greater situational awareness. That, in turn, keeps them safer and allows them to do their job more efficiently and effectively. As your system uses machine learning and AI over time, it becomes smarter about your organization’s needs and patterns, too.

We need to keep the conversation going. It was really good to see people out again, and I think it was reassuring for people in the profession to know they aren’t alone—their colleagues are feeling the same pain they are, especially when it comes to staffing and funding. Sharing ideas is what Pinnacle has always been about for me: the chance to get together with colleagues and sometimes commiserate, sometimes find better solutions. When we come together, we look at emerging technologies and data and ask ourselves, “Can we do something better?”

COVID-19 has hit the fast-forward button on this process, and it’s now forcing agencies to evaluate which technologies are going to deliver services in what we all know is a different world. So whether you’re wrestling with CMS’s Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) model or implementing your own alternate destination or telehealth programs, you need technologies that seamlessly bring that care experience together. Using a dozen different products and crews with six apps on their phone isn’t good enough; these pieces must be integrated. At Pinnacle I saw and heard EMS leaders thinking about the technology that would take things to the next level for their agency and their community. And that’s exciting.

Please reach out to learn more about Logis Solutions and our suite of products for EMS, the fire service, mobile integrated healthcare, 911 and healthcare. We’d love to talk.

The post 4 Takeaways from Pinnacle 2021 appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

Congratulations! You’ve chosen your next computer-aided dispatch (CAD) software system. That’s no small decision. Now that it’s time to put it in place, you may have questions and even a few concerns. Having worked on dozens of implementations with our own customers, I can say with conviction that there’s nothing to fear. Today’s CAD systems are fast, stable, intuitive and modern. Even better, technology now makes it possible to automatically dispatch the most appropriate resource at the most appropriate time, freeing telecommunicators up to monitor the system and handle any exceptions that arise.

Here’s some guidance about how to make the implementation process easier and faster. Before we get to that, though, this is a quick overview of the main steps to any CAD implementation:

Step 1: Server set-up. Every implementation starts with establishing your IT infrastructure. In this phase, your IT department will set up servers for your new software. (While many customers assume this will happen quickly, it’s the step that typically takes the longest.) Once the servers are prepared, your vendor can move ahead with installing the software.

Step 2: Delivery of reference data to your vendor. You’ll need to hand off current, accurate information for all crew members, crew types, vehicles, hospitals and other facilities and any other information that needs to be imported into the new system. This may also mean removing any old, outdated data first.

Step 3: Configuration workshop. This step takes two or three days, during which your CAD partner will work with you to configure the system and set up the business rules that apply to your agency, such as contract requirements you need to adhere to. (More on this below.)

Step 4: Testing. How does your new software integrate with any legacy systems or other software? With Logis, this step typically takes just a few days since we have integrations built for most other systems.

Step 5: Training. In this phase, Logis typically focuses on training the super users of the CAD, who will in turn train all other users. Though if a customer prefers, we can also train all users.

Step 6: Go-live!

5 Ways to a Smooth CAD Implementation

Now that you’ve got an idea of how implementation happens, here’s some tried-and-true advice to make sure it goes well:

Create a realistic project plan. A clear plan is, of course, the foundation of every project. With a CAD, it’s especially true that your plan is only as good as how grounded it is in the real world. Also important: There should never be gaps of time in the schedule when nothing is happening; not only are you not moving ahead, you risk one of the biggest threats to any implementation: project fatigue. Be sure, too, that your plan includes clear goals and objectives agreed on by all key stakeholders, including management (lack of engagement or support from the top level is a common pitfall). Your project plan should detail the purpose of the new CAD implementation and how you see it moving ahead.

Establish communication channels—and use them. If you read our blog post on choosing a CAD, you know that we stress the importance of communicating early and often. That means you want to ensure everyone is able to give feedback on the project so they feel heard. Putting in a CAD is a giant change for most people who use the system, and they need a chance for input during at least the testing and training phases. Similarly, other partners—meaning those who provide any products you’re currently using—need to know what’s happening and be on board with the new software. When all vendors play well together, integration is, no surprise, far easier. At Logis, we’re typically replacing another CAD system, but in some cases the previous CAD partner also supplies other, smaller systems the customer wants to keep, so we need to work well with them, too.

Appoint “business angels.” By this I mean find super users, dispatch supervisors and others who know how your organization operates—from the vehicles on the street to how you generate reports. They should also be able to devote time to the CAD implementation. This small group (no more than 10 people is ideal) will lead the project on your side. The team should have a clear mandate to make decisions, significant experience in how your business operates, and be able to cover for one another as needed.

One of the most important roles the project leads will play is ensuring the implementation phase is as short as possible (again, avoiding project fatigue). The group will be tasked with sticking to the (realistic) project plan and your key goals and objectives, sending at least biweekly updates to stakeholders (keep management in the loop!), and arranging and holding any internal discussions that need to happen for your CAD partner to move ahead. As a team, you will decide the business rules that are actually delivered and supported in your CAD (versus ones that might be written in a contract but are not followed). Business angels speed along this all-important decision-making.

Keep configuration simple. During this phase of implementation, you’ll be answering lots of questions so your CAD works to meet the specific needs of your organization. For example, let’s say you’re setting the business rules for your new system and you need to input the maximum time a patient can wait after the time your service agreed to pick them up. Your contract with a customer may say 20 minutes, but your dispatchers know a more realistic time is about 40 minutes. Do you configure the system for real-world scenarios (40 minutes) or according to your contractual obligations (20 minutes), or for something in between? These aren’t decisions your CAD provider can make for you.

In our experience, when customers start with a simpler configuration and then build on top of that as they go—as opposed to trying to add all their business rules right from the start—the system is much more effective for them, especially the predictive technology at the heart of our CAD, Logis IDS. Overconfigured systems—such as an EMS agency that decides to use a very complex setup of post plans—often have to be redone.

Choose a single point of contact. Your project team should include one designated person through whom all communications about the project will flow, especially questions from your CAD partner about the configuration of your CAD or integration with other vendors’ software. Similarly, our customers always have just one point of contact at Logis, so they’re never in doubt about whom to go to.

Once you’ve gone live, the implementation phase may be over, but your relationship with your CAD partner is just beginning. Whoever you choose should continue to listen to your needs, whether it’s a bug fix or a software update, delivering the same level of service and communication you’ve had from the start.

We’d love to continue the conversation about finding and implementing your next CAD. 

The post You’ve Picked Your CAD. Now What? appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

But you also know that really first-rate EMS dispatching software is worth its weight in gold. Especially these days. Technology has advanced to the degree that your automated dispatch system can now use predictive artificial intelligence to deploy your fleet, automate planning and easily integrate with products you already use. Here’s a short list of questions to help choose your organization’s next CAD wisely.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR TEAM

What are our goals? This may seem incredibly obvious, but I’m going to encourage you to really think about how you’d answer this question. Too often, I meet agencies that haven’t completely thought this through. If you’re replacing your existing CAD—which is typically the case—you don’t want to replace it with exactly the same thing, right? Technology has almost certainly advanced since the last time you implemented 911 CAD software.

When it comes to answering the “why,” sometimes an organization is unhappy with their current vendor; perhaps they’re not getting the customer support they need. Or maybe your existing EMS billing or dispatching solution isn’t keeping up with the changes in your business and you’ve outgrown your current product. It could be that your CAD is not being maintained or that it’s unstable. Any of these are good reasons to look for new EMS dispatching software.

Knowing precisely what you need should play a big role in what you choose, after all. Use this as the perfect opportunity to review your operations and your specific goals, whether that’s improving response times, cutting costs, reducing training time for staff, or any other targets you want to meet.

How will we handle the internal process of choosing and updating our CAD? No matter which vendor you choose, they should advise you on how their products and services can meet your needs, demonstrate how their solution will fit your requirements, and implement and support that solution.

But the CAD vendor can’t – and shouldn’t – drive the conversations between your staff and your key stakeholders.

By establishing regular, clear two-way communication channels between you and your team right from the start of the process of choosing computer-aided dispatch software, you’re helping to ensure that implementation goes as smoothly and quickly as possible. If you’re assembling a team to make the decision, include field personnel, a dispatch supervisor or some of your most skilled dispatchers or telecommunicators along with management, a fleet supervisor, an IT representative and someone from your billing department. Managing change gets a lot easier when all the right stakeholders are present and understand what’s happening along the way, plus you gain better insight into what they need.

QUESTIONS TO ASK POTENTIAL VENDORS

When and how will you show me how your CAD works? It’s natural to want to spend a lot of time preparing and refining your RFP (request for proposals) when lining up prospective vendors. You want to be sure they’ll deliver the specifics of what you need, after all.

But what’s much more important (and, frankly, I don’t see often enough) is devoting ample time for customers to see exactly how their new CAD will work and to ask questions. Where we see the biggest successes aren’t with clients who’ve had a formal RFP we responded to, but with those who’ve spent a lot more time – several hours, at least – on product demonstrations with us, where their entire stakeholder group has had time to ask questions. When we can show them directly in the system how Logis IDS or another of our products will work, they understand exactly what we mean when we say we support a feature that’s important to them.

Time spent with your vendor understanding your CAD also gives the vendor the chance to offer you new and better ways of doing something, potentially making the process smoother, easier and less costly than you might expect. So often RFPs either describe what is essentially a replacement of what an agency already has, or they list all the features the agency doesn’t have or that don’t work in their existing CAD that they definitely want in their new one. But what if you don’t know what all the possibilities are? You can’t write requirements for a new system if you don’t know all your options, right?

You can see potential solutions you never would have thought of if your vendor demonstrates functionality directly in a product you’re considering buying. (The show-and-tell process is also good for the vendor, since it means we know we can meet your expectations and we haven’t misinterpreted any requirements in your RFP. Win-win.)

If you do still choose to write an RFP, my advice is to keep it simple and frame your requirements in broad terms, letting potential vendors describe to you in detail – and show you – how they will meet your needs.

Do I really need that feature(s)?

At Logis Solutions, we offer a wide variety of products for EMS and medical transport companies to choose from – from our flagship CAD software, Logis IDS, to outpatient management and  billing modules and a key performance indicator dashboard. But it may well be that, you don’t need all those bells and whistles. If you’re only doing non-emergency transports, there’s no point in buying our emergency recommendation engine, for example. In the same way that your CAD vendor should be able to present you with solutions you hadn’t even considered, they should also tell you when a feature is nice-to-have versus necessary.

Will your software integrate with our other solutions?

There’s no one-size-fits-all vendor for both CADs and all connected solutions—someone who does everything, for every agency or organization. But the one thing you must be sure of is that whoever you choose is very good at interoperability, meaning they can integrate with any other software and functionality you use.

It’s only when you the combine the power of a modern computer-aided dispatch system with other products that you can automate the entire workflow between dispatchers or across multiple call centers. That’s why we use open APIs that make it simple and painless to integrate with other solutions. If you’re not sure that a CAD you’re considering is compatible with your current products, ask for documentation that shows how the integration will work.

How will you be able to help me as my business changes?

Whatever CAD vendor you choose, they must be agile. For example, some EMS systems in the U.S. are entering into agreements with payers or other organizations that are moving away from a fee-for-service model towards one that pays per capita, or even rewards EMS services for avoiding transports. That’s a huge change not only for an agency’s dispatch system but also for their billing system. Your vendor should keep up with those changes. What’s more, any products you buy should be kept current technologically, ensuring they’re still relevant five or 10 years from now.

Perhaps most important, whatever company you choose to install and support your CAD should listen to you and do their best to understand what you’re asking for—and then translate that into something that could be added to your existing technology. When you have a true partnership with a company you trust, you can expect, too, that they will bring solutions to you that are more cost-effective or leverage something you already have. At Logis, we continually refine and enhance our products based on the feedback we get from our customers, so it goes both ways.

We’re proud to say that our clients are progressive, understanding – and they trust us. They want to try new things, and, most of all, they want to move forward. And isn’t that what we all want?

We’d love to continue the conversation about finding your next CAD. Schedule a personalized demonstration of Logis IDS today!

Logis designs cutting-edge solutions that use automation, integration and customization to give leaders in emergency medical services, fire departments, emergency communications and healthcare the information and tools they need to deliver high-quality, efficient service.

The post 6 Questions to Ask When Choosing Your EMS CAD appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

New IDS Module Upgrade Streamlines Appointment Management

IDS Appointments – a new module available within the IDS CAD ecosystem – provides a patient centric approach to managing appointments. Integrated into the IDS framework with a unique and customizable interface, this module includes a web-based patient registration system and a health practitioner interface. This new tool, with a simple user account set-up, streamlines appointment scheduling and connecting with patients through its:

• Scalability for large patient cohorts
• Easy view for appointment availability, scheduling and queuing behavior, with appointment hold option
• Functionality to connect with patients through email campaigns
• Medicine management with route of administration, adverse reaction recording, expiry date management and scheduling based on recommended first and second dose

Watch: Watch a demo of the Appointments module addition

Live Streaming Through Simple SMS Connects Pre-hospital Care with Other Providers

The new IDS Stream module allows call takers and telecommunicators to connect with patients and mobile integrated healthcare providers to share photos and streaming videos in real time from an emergency scene or patient environment. Stream is made for mobile technology, creating a simple SMS request that brings context and rich information to healthcare providers, improving connectivity between pre-hospital and hospital care providers that should positively impact patient care quality and efficiency. Learn more about How Streaming Video Can Enhance Situational Awareness and Improve Patient Outcomes.

• Logis IDS users can send media feeds directly from the call-taking screen, which sends a simple initiation through mobile SMS
• All data is recorded and available both for future follow up calls as part of the patients’ journal and for general quality assurance
• Seamless integration with Logis IDS with trusted security and privacy measures in place

Watch: See how SMS texting in IDS leads to photo and video sharing in real time

Automated, Customized and Flexible Billing Just Got Better

The Logis Billing tool already helps reduce wait time to pull accurate payer and patient information, reduces manual interventions to streamline the process and tracks real time payments. These new updates continue to improve the tool’s usefulness based on regular input from our client partners.

Easier Management of Multiple Business Units

• A new configuration menu helps easily find and separate out specific components
• Individual configuration allows business unit segmentation in large organizations for more detailed views and reporting

Custom Number Sequences for Improved Integrations

• Now, determine and set unique numbering sequences to better align to external systems

Simplified Medical & Procedures Tracking and Interface

• Simplified updating of NEMSIS data, using import and synchronization features
• ePCR interface changes allow selection of outcomes based on individual criteria to drive billing outcomes, even when this information is initially provided incorrectly through ePCR data import

Watch: Custom Automated Billing Solutions for your EMS system

Want to learn more about these upgrades or about how you can bring IDS into your call center? Request a demo today.

The post Enhancing Patient Engagement, Scheduling and Pre-Arrival Information for Improved Care appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

The Spring 2021 product updates bring a number of new features. These updates stem from requests we hear from our customers throughout the year and new ideas from the Logis team of how to improve our tools and the experience of those who use them. In this first post of a two-post series, we will highlight a number of updates to our flagship product, Logis IDS.

1. Improved Screen Structure for Better Call Management

New improvements to intake screens include expanding panels, summary information and custom layouts to best meet the requirements of in-bound call management.

2. Multi-Path Questionnaires Help Streamline Processes

Improved functionality and layouts streamline a multiple pathway question approach to derive key elements for response. Pre-determined, custom logic displays relevant outcomes to minimize screen clutter and increase focus on the next relevant item.

3. Service Level Agreement (SLA) Rules Improve Prioritization and Arrival Estimation

New updates include automatic notification of different time warning thresholds when a service level agreement is adjusted. This new feature helps staff provide a more refined time window when resources are unable to meet the initial requested time. Plus, IDS now automates the configurable application of a default SLA for return transports to reduce confusion.

4. Improved Time Management and Time Change Tracking

Ensure appropriate recording of changes for subsequent review with time change tracking by reason with the ability to prioritize those reasons when the planner is optimizing tasks.

5. Other New Features Requested by IDS Users

• Warnings for return transport times scheduled to occur before the initial transport
• Global and single unlock of fields for second and subsequent transports
• Creating limits on certain Call Classes at a particular time to preserve higher qualified crews in a mixed model system e.g. ALS support for non-emergency calls: two units at any point
• Waypoint and split creation with defined templates for common use cases e.g. bariatric equipment, specialist team pick up, etc.

Watch: Learn more about these new IDS features

6. Additional Response Plans Address Even More Scenarios

Apply unique response components in different scenarios with additional response plan options as an output from primary response plans.

7. Easier Exporting & Importing of Reference Data

Significantly reduce time associated with configuration changes by easily copying, saving and applying configuration setting elements from one environment to another. This feature automatically identifies elements that require specific human attention on import.

8. Unit,Crew & Equipment Interface Improvement for Increased Clarity

Finally, Unit, Crew, Device, and Equipment sign on interface have been improved, providing greater clarity for operators of default, free and matching components.

Watch: See these new IDS features in action

Want to learn more about these upgrades or about how you can bring IDS into your call center? Request a demo today.

The post Continuous Innovation & Improvement: Logis’ Commitment appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.

Check out upgrades to our automated and easy to use EMS and healthcare billing solution. New features help you manage NEMSIS data updates with ease, allow for automated billing code corrections when ePCR data may be incorrect and provides easy segmentation of billing data across business units in large organizations.

The post Leverage Automation and Exception Management with Logis Billing appeared first on Logis Solutions by ESO.