Thursday, December 12, 2013  Important Changes coming in West York Ambulance and EMS  

FROM THE CHAIRMAN

          by Rod Drawbaugh

 

                As you read this newsletter, several issues are facing the West York Ambulance, Inc. in the coming months.  First of all, many of you probably read in the newspaper that WellSpan Health will no longer provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) services, known as Medic 97, effective January 1, 2014.  This service has been in place since 1980, which was a time when the availability of paramedic services in York and Adams counties didn’t exist.

 

                Over the years since 1980 advancements in EMS capabilities among local ambulance services have grown.  Many ambulance services, with West York Ambulance among them, developed ALS capabilities and began providing ALS services to their communities.  Most of the paramedics who worked in these programs were leased from WellSpan Health.

 

                As a result of WellSpan’s decision, West York Ambulance is now forced to hire paramedics instead of leasing them.  This new level of service began on November 1, 2013 and we are excited to have several former paramedics from Medic 97 join our team.  We are also excited to bring this expanded level of emergency medical service to the populations of West York Borough and West Manchester Township.  We look forward to providing the very latest in emergency medical care for you and your family.

 

                The other major issue that faces us is the changing landscape within the health care field.  The Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, will definitely change the health care lancscape and the financing of that care.  In the current system, ambulance providers are incentivized to take the patient to highest cost place for medical evaluation and treatment using the highest cost mode of transportation.  As a result, ambulance services are considered a commodity that brings little value to the outcomes of those patient’s we transport.  In the new healthcare world, Medicare, and other payers, is recommending a reduction in payment for ambulance services.  This creates a real problem for small ambulance services like West York.

 

                One way to offset this potential loss of revenue is for ambulance services to increase the volume of calls they cover.  This means that the current 33 ambulance services that cover York County will have to “regionalize” in order to survive.  This means that many small local ambulance companies will have to cease operations and join a much larger group, just like what has happened in the police world.

 

                West York Ambulance is on the forefront of this new regionalization effort.  We have been meeting with WellSpan and several other ambulance services, like Yoe Ambulance, mapping out a future regionalized EMS service in York County.  We expect to see a regionalized EMS service take root within the next few years.

 

                While change is often scary, this is an exciting time to be a part of EMS.  Perhaps we will no longer transport every patient to a hospital Emergency Department when transport to a lesser venue of care, like a physician office, is better.  Perhaps our paramedics can provide post-hospitalization visits to patients throughout the day rather than simply waiting for the next call.

 

                There are lots of changes ahead, but West York Ambulance stands ready to meet the challenges head on.  We welcome your continued support of our organization.  We thank you for your past support and with your support we can provide world-class EMS care to our community.

RODNEY  DRAWBAUGH

Chairman of the Board