January 9, 2018 at 6:33 p.m.
JEMS on the right track
JEMS on the right track
Jay Emergency Medical Service is on the right track going into the new year, county commissioners were told Monday.
“2017 was a year of transition for JEMS,” said Jay County Hospital employee Leslie Peterson, who acts as a part-time director for the service with a three-part leadership team that includes John McFarland, Gary Barnett and Emily Anderson. “We knew there’d be some hurdles.”
McFarland, Barnett and Anderson stepped up in the second half of the year after the resignation of director Eric Moore.
“The billing backlog has been cleared,” said Peterson. “Revenues are becoming steady and are trending upward.”
“2017 was a year of transition for JEMS,” said Jay County Hospital employee Leslie Peterson, who acts as a part-time director for the service with a three-part leadership team that includes John McFarland, Gary Barnett and Emily Anderson. “We knew there’d be some hurdles.”
McFarland, Barnett and Anderson stepped up in the second half of the year after the resignation of director Eric Moore.
“The billing backlog has been cleared,” said Peterson. “Revenues are becoming steady and are trending upward.”
The county out-sourced its billing to a Michigan firm called AccuMed early in the year in an effort to reduce expenses and increase collections. And for the most part, that has gone smoothly.
“I’m very pleased,” said McFarland. “We’re sitting really solid at that 60-day (accounts receivable) mark.”
But the switch had its hiccups as well. In the transition after the resignation of Doug Inman as commissioner, paperwork issues slowed the billing process. Because AccuMed couldn’t meet the “timely filing” requirements of Medicare and Medicaid, an estimated $200,000 or more was lost.
While that’s significant, county officials noted that in some prior years as much as $600,000 in billing went uncollected.
“We’re really steadily seeing improvements,” said McFarland. “We’ll continue to monitor this.”
One aspect of the relationship with AccuMed has been improving JEMS staff record-keeping in order to avoid having claims rejected by insurance companies.
“They’re giving us direct feedback on how to improve,” McFarland said.
Peterson said staffing issues have also been resolved, and Anderson has been revising work schedules as a way of dramatically reducing overtime.
JEMS has also forged a partnership with Jay Schools and John Jay Center for Learning through which McFarland as training officer will be helping to develop new emergency medical technicians.
“I am very pleased with what I see,” Chuck Huffman, president of the commissioners, said.
“I feel like we really turned a page,” said Peterson.
In other business, commissioners:
•Signed a preventive maintenance agreement with Havel, Fort Wayne, for the heating, ventilation and air condition system at the Jay County Jail at an annual cost of $25,500 and an additional $6,216 for cleaning 16 variable frequency drives.
•Agreed to accept a citizen’s donation and install flashing stop signs at the intersection of county road 300 South and Boundary Pike.
•Approved purchasing a traffic counter system from the Hoosier Co., Indianapolis, at a cost of $3,702.75. The system will not only count traffic but will also monitor speeds and vehicle weights.
•Asked county engineer Dan Watson to check on additional complaints about television reception that may be related to Bluff Point Wind Energy Center.
•Re-elected Huffman as president and Mike Leonhard as president of the county drainage board. Barry Hudson was re-elected as vice president of both.
•Re-appointed current county department heads.
•Named Huffman president of the county board of finance and county treasurer Paula Miller as secretary.
•Reaffirmed the county’s investment policy with no changes.
•Were told by county surveyor Brad Daniels that all logjams on the Salamonie River “that we know about” have been cleared.
•Agreed to have Emerald Business Solutions of Jay County maintain the sheriff’s department website at a cost of $240 per year.
“I’m very pleased,” said McFarland. “We’re sitting really solid at that 60-day (accounts receivable) mark.”
But the switch had its hiccups as well. In the transition after the resignation of Doug Inman as commissioner, paperwork issues slowed the billing process. Because AccuMed couldn’t meet the “timely filing” requirements of Medicare and Medicaid, an estimated $200,000 or more was lost.
While that’s significant, county officials noted that in some prior years as much as $600,000 in billing went uncollected.
“We’re really steadily seeing improvements,” said McFarland. “We’ll continue to monitor this.”
One aspect of the relationship with AccuMed has been improving JEMS staff record-keeping in order to avoid having claims rejected by insurance companies.
“They’re giving us direct feedback on how to improve,” McFarland said.
Peterson said staffing issues have also been resolved, and Anderson has been revising work schedules as a way of dramatically reducing overtime.
JEMS has also forged a partnership with Jay Schools and John Jay Center for Learning through which McFarland as training officer will be helping to develop new emergency medical technicians.
“I am very pleased with what I see,” Chuck Huffman, president of the commissioners, said.
“I feel like we really turned a page,” said Peterson.
In other business, commissioners:
•Signed a preventive maintenance agreement with Havel, Fort Wayne, for the heating, ventilation and air condition system at the Jay County Jail at an annual cost of $25,500 and an additional $6,216 for cleaning 16 variable frequency drives.
•Agreed to accept a citizen’s donation and install flashing stop signs at the intersection of county road 300 South and Boundary Pike.
•Approved purchasing a traffic counter system from the Hoosier Co., Indianapolis, at a cost of $3,702.75. The system will not only count traffic but will also monitor speeds and vehicle weights.
•Asked county engineer Dan Watson to check on additional complaints about television reception that may be related to Bluff Point Wind Energy Center.
•Re-elected Huffman as president and Mike Leonhard as president of the county drainage board. Barry Hudson was re-elected as vice president of both.
•Re-appointed current county department heads.
•Named Huffman president of the county board of finance and county treasurer Paula Miller as secretary.
•Reaffirmed the county’s investment policy with no changes.
•Were told by county surveyor Brad Daniels that all logjams on the Salamonie River “that we know about” have been cleared.
•Agreed to have Emerald Business Solutions of Jay County maintain the sheriff’s department website at a cost of $240 per year.
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