Missed a live webinar? Purchase the recorded webinar and stay up-to-date with AAA’s Cost Collection education!

All on-demand webinars are FREE for Savvik Grant and ACE Subscriber!

2020 On-Demand Webinars:

 

Selected for Cost Collection? AAA AMBER is Here to Help

Recorded: Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | 2:00pm EST
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

This webinar will introduce the participants to the structure, layout, and function of the CMS Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection Tool, beginning with the general survey instructions. We will also demonstrate AMBER, the Cost Data Collection tool designed to make your life simpler by helping you collect, analyze, and submit your data to CMS.

 

Organizational Characteristics 

Recorded: Thursday, February 13, 2020 | 2:00pm EST
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

The Organizational Characteristics webinar will help you learn how to correctly describe and categorize your organization. Are you a stand-alone EMS agency or do you share services with another provider? Do you have multiple NPIs? What is your ownership type? Listen and learn all about the many different organizational characteristics and how correctly identifying the ones that best describe your service can help you submit accurate data. Purchase Webinar. 

Approved for one NAAC CEU unit

Service Area and Response Time

Recorded: Thursday, March 12, 2020
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

This webinar covers the many different questions asked by the CMS Medicare Data Collection Instrument about the service area you cover. How do you determine your primary area versus your secondary area—and does it even matter? Attend this webinar to find out. The participants will also gain knowledge and understanding of how definitions of response times can affect emergency responders and the accuracy of the data submitted. Knowing response times can greatly improve a system’s performance so understanding how to properly calculate it is critical. Join us to learn more. Purchase Webinar

Approved for one NAAC CEU unit

Ground Ambulance Service Volume

Recorded: Thursday, April 9, 2020 
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

Total responses, total transports, and paid versus unpaid transports can be confusing. Learn how CMS wants this data submitted and how you may be missing some information on vital requests for services. In this webinar, the participants will gain an understanding of not only how CMS wants the different service volumes reported, but why. Join us for an in-depth look at the background and history of how and why knowing your total volume and the different categories of data can make a big difference in your service. Purchase Webinar

 Approved for one NAAC CEU unit

 

Service Mix

Recorded: Thursday, May 14, 2020 
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

This webinar will provide an overview of the background of different responses and transports that make up the total of your service mix. AAA faculty will guide participants on how to differentiate service levels, including emergencies, non-emergencies, BLS, ALS, SCT, and inter-facility transports, as well as best practices for submitting accurate data. Purchase Webinar. 

 

Labor Costs

Recorded: Thursday, June 11, 2020 
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

Finding out how CMS defines labor, especially as it pertains to medics, administrative staff, and contract labor, can be critical to submitting the most accurate and complete data. Personnel and labor costs are typically the most expensive costs for any ambulance organization. Reporting accurate costs will be vital in giving CMS the information it needs to make good decisions on payment policies. Join us to learn just how important reporting your “fully burdened labor costs” can be. Purchase Webinar. 

 

Facilities and Vehicle Costs

Recorded: Thursday, July 9, 2020
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

CMS needs information on how the many different types of EMS organizations are housed and how those facilities are paid for. When it comes to shared services, how should the facilities be apportioned so that each area is fully accounted for? What about remounts of ambulances and the costs associated with that? Where do other vehicles fit in? By participating in this webinar, services can learn what mileage CMS needs, what counts as an ambulance, as well as how to provide good data on repair, maintenance, and insurance costs. Purchase Webinar. 

 

Equipment, Consumables, and Supplies Costs

Recorded: Thursday, August 13, 2020
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

What is the difference between consumable supplies and capital equipment? How does a service know which category equipment, furniture, or medications should go in? Listen to this webinar to learn all about these and other important distinctions so that you can submit your data in the most accurate and complete manner. Purchase Webinar. 

 

Other and Total Costs

Recorded: Thursday, September 10, 2020
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

Not only does CMS need information on labor, facilities, vehicles, and equipment costs, they have room for services to submit all other costs that are required to provide ambulance services to patients. By participating in this webinar, you can learn about the many different additional costs you incur, such as accounting costs, IT support, etc., that we often don’t think about but adds to the bottom line. You will also get great ideas on how to correctly allocate these and other costs to multiple NPI’s or your parent organization if needed. Total costs will be defined and explained and the importance of the self-check of total costs compared to revenue is not only necessary data for submission but important for your service to truly understand the cost of service.

 

Revenues

Recorded: Thursday, October 8, 2020
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

What counts as revenues? Everyone knows that Medicare payments, insurance payments, and patient self-pays are revenue, but what about other sources that you may not normally think of? Do you receive VA payments, do you have membership fees, or get local taxes earmarked for EMS? If so, you won’t want to miss this webinar and learn how to recognize different revenue sources as well as the best way to categorize them and submit them to CMS.

Putting it All Together 

Recorded: Thursday, November 12, 2020
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

Despite the delay in the first year of the new CMS Ambulance Cost Collection requirements, EMS services must remain focused on ensuring that their organization can accurately and compliantly complete the Ambulance Cost Data Collection Instrument.  The delay means that 50% of the ambulance services in this country will begin collecting their cost data starting in 2021.  This session will tie together the prior ten cost collection webinars from 2020 in an effort to better prepare organizations in complying with the new requirements.  We will discuss the best methods to cross check your data and what questions still remain? In this webinar, AAA faculty will go over updated information from CMS as well as answer the questions services have as they finalize data for submission.

Déjà Vu All Over Again—Cost Collection Delay

Recorded: Thursday, December 10, 2020
$99 for AAA-Members | $198 for Non-Members (Included in ACE Subscription)

Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that they will be further delaying the mandatory ambulance cost data collection reporting until 2022. Cost collection was originally scheduled to start for 25% of EMS providers in 2020 and was delayed until 2021 due to the pandemic. CMS announced that, due to the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, they will be pushing back the reporting requirements for 50% of the EMS providers until 2022.

It is more important than ever that EMS leaders prepare their organizations and align their financial practices and data systems to meet the requirements for the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting requirements beginning early in 2021, as well as, for the ambulance cost collection requirements starting in 2022. This webinar will discuss how the AMBER cost collection platform can assist EMS agencies in telling their pandemic-related financial story, ensuring that they can articulate the impacts to their services with real-time financial data. We are in a new era of financial accountability and any future COVID-19 related relief will require supporting financial data. The headlines are highlighting the fragility of the nation’s EMS systems. Accurate financial data will tell the story that cannot be ignored.

 

2018-2019 On-Demand Webinars

 

Ambulance Cost Data: Sample Chart of Accounts

Recorded: October 2, 2018
Speaker: Aaron Director

With ambulance cost data collection legislation in place and reporting requirements coming ever closer, the AAA has been working on a variety of tools and systems to ease the process for services of all sizes and types. One component is a chart of accounts that can be used operationally or as a crosswalk tool to assist in meeting the reporting burden. After collecting source information from services nationwide, we have compiled a draft and are seeking review and comment. This session is oriented toward comptrollers, bookkeepers – the person in your organization who handles the books. We will provide a brief background, review the draft chart, and then frame some questions and areas for feedback. Your participation will help improve this tool for everyone. View webinar►

855 Form: Best Practices

Recorded on November 27, 2018
Speakers: Angie McLain & Scott Moore
$50 for Members | $100 for Non-Members

CMS may use the 855 Form to determine which provider category your service best belongs in. Errors in the 855 Form can cause data to be skewed and/or your service’s data to be included in the wrong category. Join our panel of experts, including Rebecca Williamson, Angie McLain, and Scott Moore, as they review the form to help you determine the best way to complete and update your 855 Form. Purchase►

NAAC approved for 1 CEU.

 

Single vs. Multiple NPIs: Challenges & Opportunities

Presented By: Asbel Montes, Rebecca Williamson, Aaron Director
Recorded: December 11, 2018
$50 for Members | $100 for Non-Members

Do you have multiple NPIs? Should you? How to allocate portions of revenue and costs by NPI will be part of the cost collection system. This webinar will review the challenges and opportunities related to multiple NPIs. Learn from the experts, including Asbel Montes, Rebecca Williamson, and Aaron Director, the best way to provide accurate data with multiple NPIs and begin to answer questions on your service’s NPI differentials. Purchase►

NAAC approved for 1 CEU.

 

 

Utilization Metrics & Service Volume I

Presented By: Rebecca Williamson, Angie McLain, Scott Moore
Recorded: January 15, 2019
$50 for Members | $100 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

Understanding the cost per transport depends upon some quantification of utilization. Currently there are some utilization metrics available to the industry but they are calculated using different and inconsistently defined data. When evaluating payment policies such as the rural and super-rural add-on payments, the ability to have a standardized measure of utilization will be very useful. In this webinar, faculty will discuss standardization of utilization metrics and what your service needs to consider in order to calculate this important metric correctly for future payment models. Purchase►

NAAC approved for 1 CEU. 

 

 

Allowable vs Non-Allowable Costs and Cost Allocations

Presented By: Angie McLain, Asbel Montes, Scott Moore
Recorded: January 29, 2019
$50 for Members | $100 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

The cost data survey will be a summary of ambulance supplier activities for a calendar or fiscal year. The cost data survey could be the basis for future rate setting and will provide lawmakers data to make policy decisions. It is important for ambulance suppliers to understand the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ current rules for allowable versus non-allowable cost and how identifying appropriate cost centers created prior to the start of the cost data survey will be the key to success for capturing appropriate cost data for your organization.
In this webinar, participants will:
• Discover the importance of structuring cost allocation within your organization.
• Learn how to start identifying allowable cost versus non-allowable cost within your organization.
• Learn how CMS currently defines reasonable cost.
• Discover how you must use cost principles to allocate for allowable cost, indirect or direct.
• Begin to understand how cost is allocated based on specific cost objectives or cost centers.
• Learn how allocating cost must support reasonable cost for patient care.
• Gain an understanding of accrual-based accounting utilized for reporting cost data and how it relates to allowable cost.
• Expand your knowledge on CMS current standards on allocating cost, and why it’s important to get it correct prior to submitting your first cost data survey.

Purchase►

NAAC approved for 1 CEU. 

 

 

Volunteer Labor

Presented By: Scott Moore
Recorded: February 6, 2019
$50 for Members | $100 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

Correctly calculating volunteer labor is one of the more difficult aspects of ambulance cost data collection. With varying costs associated with volunteer labor (insurance, per diems, etc.), the volunteer labor variable is significant. During this webinar, faculty will review the finer details associated with volunteer labor including a standard calculation that can be used as an FTE placeholder, so service’s true costs are reflected. Purchase►

NAAC approved for 1 CEU. 

 

 

Tools for Billing Services and Other Vendors

Presented By: Aaron Director
Recorded: March 6, 2019
$99 for Members | $198 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

As we get closer to new data collection requirements taking effect across the ambulance service community, the American Ambulance Association has been developing tools and information to make it easier for services of all sizes and types to report. One such tool, a web-based reporting system, will be including robust integration for billing services and other vendors serving the community.

In this webinar, we’ll talk about the web tool being developed, and share some ideas for partnering with vendors to create an integrated, seamless tool for your customers to use your system with our toolset. Combined, you can offer your customers a much more painless way to meet new reporting requirements – effectively adding to your value proposition. Purchase►

 

NAAC approved for 1 CEU. 

 

 

Utilization Metrics & Service Volume II

Presented By: Asbel Montes, Angie McLain, and Scott Moore
Recorded: March 19, 2019
$99 for Members | $198 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

Building on the knowledge of Part 1 in this series, Part 2 will explore why it is critical that the utilization metrics and service volume information collected be accurate, concise and standardized across all ambulance suppliers. This webinar will dig deeper into understanding the “why” behind the importance that the elements involved in utilization and service volumes is critical to permanency of the current add-on payments and future reimbursement enhancements surround urban, rural, and super-rural transportation.

This webinar will explore:
• The historical perspective and federally mandated requirements for CMS to collect utilization data.
• Why it’s important to know the square coverage miles of your service segmented by urban, rural, and super-rural.
• The importance of how local and state laws impact cost based upon service volume and utilization.
• Methodologies and formulas other Medicare reimbursed healthcare providers must furnish as part of their industry Medicare Cost Reports.
• Why mileage by service level should be included in understanding service volume in any cost data collection tool.
• Why standardized definitions are critical when reporting costs in the data collection tool.
Purchase►

 

NAAC approved for 1 CEU. 

 

 

How to Allocate Your Costs of Readiness

Presented By: Scott Moore, Rebecca Williamson, Angie McLain, Asbel Montes
Recorded: April 11, 2019
$99 for Members | $198 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

Readiness cost needs to be allocated to accurately characterize the cost of operations. The flexibility that the separate identification of readiness cost allows for is the potential differential allocation of those costs to different levels or types of service. During this Webinar the faculty will review cost categories that assist with calculating the cost of readiness and how these calculations could be used to adjust the payment structure for ambulance services. Purchase►

 

NAAC approved for 1 CEU. 

 

 

2019 Accounting Manual: An Introduction

Presented By: Aaron Director
Recorded: April 18, 2019
$99 for Members | $198 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

New data collection mandates are only months away – and when they take effect, ambulance service costs and revenues will get more attention than everbefore. To help increase consistency across the industry, the American Ambulance Association has developed an accounting manual. This document includes and describes a unified chart of accounts to ease reporting, along with some helpful definitions and tips for services of all sizes. In this webinar, we’ll provide an introduction to the manual, share what we do and don’t yet know about financial reporting requirements, and discuss ways to use the manual to ease this transition into the new reporting world. Whether you’re a part-time bookkeeper in a small service or a member of a large multi-state financial team, this session is for you! (Green eyeshade optional.) Purchase►

 

 

2019 Medicare Update

Presented By: Brian Werfel, Esq, Rebecca Williamson, Kathy Lester
Recorded on: April 30, 2019
$99 for Members | $198 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

Join AAA Medicare Consultant, Brian Werfel, Esq., for an invaluable overview of the latest issues affecting Medicare’s coverage of ambulance services. Topics will include information covered in the 2019 Medicare Reference Manual – a must-have for ambulance services that bill Medicare for transports. The webinar will also cover general Medicare rules as they apply to federally mandated cost data collection. The webinar will conclude with a Q&A session. Purchase►

 

 

NAAC approved for 1 CEU. 

 

 

 

Finance 101

Presented by: Angie McLain & Scott Moore
Recorded on: June 4, 2019 
$99 for Members | $198 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

Health care reform is creating new challenges for of all healthcare organizations. The financial aptitude of the organization will be an essential component of its ability to be successful with the upcoming Ambulance Cost Data Collection mandated by Congress to begin in 2020. Ambulance services can no longer isolate all of the financial knowledge to the senior executive or financial staff. EMS organizations must engage all individuals in the financial analyses and decisions, beginning with the organization’s board through to the rank and file providers. Inclusive decision making is the best hope to the high quality and sound decisions that will need to be made to insure success.

During Finance 101, attendees will gain an understanding of ambulance healthcare financial management concepts and how the ambulance industry is unique.

Ambulance Cost Education expert Angie McLain will:

• Introduce attendees to the basics of healthcare finance
• Provide relevant information attendees can use in their work environment
• Provide an understanding of finance that non-financial managers in the ambulance industry need to understand to make informed decisions
• Frame the uniqueness affecting ambulance healthcare finance for professionals new to the industry
• Enhance skills for entry level finance professionals and provide resources for information

The webinar is a great opportunity for those who are new to the world of healthcare finance in the ambulance industry. Purchase►

 

 NAAC approved for 1 CEU.

Fundamentals of Revenue Calculations

Presented by: Asbel Montes, Angie McLain, & Rebecca Williamson
Recorded: September 20, 2019 
$99 for Members | $198 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

This webinar will provide the attendee with three core fundamentals surrounding revenue calculations:

1. Ambulance transportation revenue and the complexity around payers and categories
2. Non-ambulance transportation revenue and how to categorize it appropriately
3. Ambulance revenue and how it relates to CMS cost data collection and reporting.

As safety net providers, cost data collection will allow the ambulance industry to begin reporting revenues and other elements that will assist in bad debt recovery that other healthcare entities currently have the ability to recover from federal and state programs. This seminar will explore how to begin setting up your systems to report these revenues and other elements correctly to ensure accuracy of the data reported for future payment reform. Register►

 NAAC approved for 1 CEU. 

Fundamentals of Cost Calculations

Presented by: Asbel Montes, Angie McLain, & Rebecca Williamson
Recorded: October 16, 2019
$99 for Members | $198 for Non-Members (price included with Gold and Silver ACE Subscription packages)

This webinar will provide the attendee with the core fundamentals surrounding cost calculations for ambulance services including:

* Cash vs. Accrual accounting and what is required by Medicare
* The differences in direct and indirect costs and how to report each category
* The importance of correctly calculating labor costs
* How equipment, consumables, and supply costs are reported and ideas for how to best begin collecting this information
* How EMS industry standards may not always align with CMS definitions and what to do when they don’t

Cost data collection will allow the ambulance industry to being aligning EMS-specific costs with other elements to help streamline and standardize accounting and financial management practices. This webinar will explore how to begin collecting essential data and how to report costs that may not have been segregated prior to this requirement. Correctly collecting and reporting costs will help ensure the accuracy of the data that is received by CMS and in turn, provide valuable information for payment reform.  Purchase►

 NAAC approved for 1 CEU.