EMS In Wisconsin Podcast

Dr. Jeff Jarvis joins EMS in Wisconsin to share his thoughts on research in EMS - why it matters, and how to stop doing what we're doing just because we've always done it, and start doing what we know (through research) makes a difference.

Rebecca Williamson, Subject Matter Expert and Project Director for the American Ambulance Association's Ambulance Cost Data Education team updates us on everything cost data related now that CMS published the proposed rule earlier this month. Was the AAA close in what they predicted? Is CMS listening to what EMS is telling them? Click play to find out...

In this episode, Dan Althouse from member organization Orange Cross Ambulance, Mary Pitsch, CEO of Embrace Care Management, and Chuck Buttler, Assistant Fire Chief of Sheboygan Fire Department share how they’ve approached dementia care throughout their communities. What started as a volunteer lead effort is now a grant-funded program improving the lives of those with dementia throughout Sheboygan County, and better equipping those who care for them through education and awareness. You can learn more by visiting their Facebook page or look for their session at the November WEMSA conference.

In this episode, we talk with PAAW President Dana Sechler and Vice President Chris Anderson about legislative items impacting EMS in Wisconsin. Dana & Chris share the updates and provide perspective on topics such as DHS 110 opening up, Medicaid reimbursement, PTSD and the importance of advocacy at all levels of EMS.

Guests: Scott Moore, Esq. HR/ Operations Consultant for the American Ambulance Association and Mike Tornstrom, Director of Caledonia Ambulance (MN) Scott & Mike join the podcast to discuss how body cameras, whether worn by police, fire, or EMS integrate with or impact EMS. We discuss patient privacy, field provider behavior, and when and how organizational policies and staff training should come into play.

Chuck & Katie share their experiences with the largest traffic accident in Wisconsin history that occurred on I41 on February 24th, 2019. They go beyond the logistics of incident management and discuss what they learned, what they carry with them, and what they want to pay forward as their careers in EMS continue.

Taylor recently created a Transgender Patient Awareness training for EMS providers, and he is uniquely qualified to do so as a transgender male who recently completed his medical transition and an EMT. Taylor aims to provide information, training, and awareness about transition and how the treatments, surgeries, and medications used during this process can impact a patient’s presentation to a medical provider. Taylor explains what we need to know when treating transgender patients and shares a bit about his own experience along the way.

Rebecca Williamson, Chief Compliance Officer for Pafford EMS and Chair of the American Ambulance Association’s Medicare Regulatory Committee and Scott Moore, Esq., HR, and Operations Consultant for the American Ambulance Association join EMS in Wisconsin to talk about the upcoming Cost Data Collection workshop at Midwest EMS Expo. Midwest EMS Expo is coming up April 25 - 26 in Bloomington, MN, and the regional workshop will be on April 25th. In this interview, Scott & Rebecca give us a look into the world of ambulance cost data collection, what to expect from the workshop, and who should attend. For more information, visit www.midwestemsexpo.com and www.ambulancereports.org.

In this episode, we're talking with Maria Bianchi about EMS Cost Data Collection. Maria is the Executive Director of the American Ambulance Association and helps us break it down - we talk about what cost collection is, why it is happening, and why ambulance services across the country should care. To learn more, visit www.paaw.us and www.ambulancereports.org.

PAAW President Dana Sechler (Baraboo EMS) & Vice President Chris Anderson (Bell Ambulance) discuss the high points of 2018, and share what they’re looking forward to most in 2019.

In this episode, we speak with Wayne Jurecki and Chris Anderson of member organization Bell Ambulance. We're discussing Direct Pay - what it is, why PAAW is taking interest, and what it means (and could mean) for EMS services in Wisconsin.

Several EMS agencies across the state of Wisconsin have received notice of a targeted probe & education from NGS, one of the Medicare Administrators. Tyler Stapleton, revenue cycle manager for Tri-State Ambulance shares Tri-State’s experience and offers insight on the process.

MTM, RFPs and MBIs. What does all that mean? We're talking to Patrick Ryan, Co-Owner of Ryan Brother's Ambulance and PAAW Board member about potential changes with the non-emergency transport broker in Wisconsin, and how PAAW is working to negotiate the most favorable outcome possible. Then, LuAnn Slater and Heidi Romansheck join the conversation to let us know how the Medicare identifiers are changing.

Sometimes, it is not what you 'say' in your ePCR, but how you 'say' it. We discuss the importance of documentation with Rebecca Williamson, Chief Compliance Officer at Pafford EMS – she shares her thoughts and recommendations on documentation standards, common mistakes and best practices for submitting a complete and accurate patient care report.

For this podcast, I talked with Chris Anderson, Director of Operations for Bell Ambulance and PAAW Vice President, and Tom Tornstrom, Executive Director of Tri-State Ambulance and PAAW Board Member, about their thoughts on leading millennials. They share their perspective on the difficulties and differences they’ve experienced as their workforce demographic gets younger, and the advantages and insights this new generation has to offer as their services continue to grow. Just as a point of reference, the PEW Research Center offers the following generational identification: Millennials are those born between 1981 and 1996 and post millennials are those born after 1997. That means the top age of millennials in 2018 is 37 years old, and 22 at the low end.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Ricardo Collela and Linda Matrisch from Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Managment about quality improvement systems in EMS. They share what they're doing, how they're doing it, and why building a culture of quality matters.

Cost data collection system – we sit down with Tristan North, SVP of Government Affairs with the American Ambulance Association to learn about what it is, why it’s happening, what you need to prepare for and how it is different than cost reporting. If you’re an EMS service director or billing manger, you’ll want to listen to this episode.

In this episode, we talk about attracting, engaging and retaining millennials with Tyler Christifulli, who presented at this year's Midwest EMS Expo. We cover positive attitudes, education and career opportunities and how maybe the millennial problem isn't about millennials, exactly.

In this episode, we speak with Mathew Streger, Keavney & Streger (https://www.njemslaw.com/) about managing former peers. Moving from partner to Supervisor or Manager can be a bit like moving from partner to pariah, Matt shares his 10 commandments of managing former peers with us so we can avoid some common pitfalls of the transition.

Only 14,926 individual EMS licenses to renew in about 115 days (episode recorded on March 6th, 2018). The State of Wisconsin EMS office is dealing with many things, and EMS license renewals for both services and individuals is only one of them. In this episode, Helen Pullen of Wisconsin EMS joins us to discuss deadlines, common questions and must-knows of your license renewal process for 2018–2020. Get all of your EMS license renewal information here!

This episode features guest Scott Moore, Esq. an HR and Operations consultant for The American Ambulance Association and owner of EMS Resource Advisors, LLC. We are talking about employee incentive programs, what they are (and are not), and what you should consider before implementation. Scott also shares his views on what the single most effective employee incentive program is.

2018 is here! In the first half of this episode, we talk with Dr. Suzanne Martens, EMS Medical Director for the state of Wisconsin as she shares the work the Physician Advisory Committee has been doing and their plan for 2018. The second half of this episode features Joe Kachelski, CEO of the Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network (WISHIN), about how EMS services can now access the network for billing information.