Bloomfield Township changes EMS billing service

By Kevin Elliott

Bloomfield Township trustees on Monday, January 23, unanimously approved a new two-year contract with a new emergency medical billing service related to ambulance and EMS transports.

The new two-year contract with Medicount Management, of Cincinnati, Ohio, replaces the township’s current biller, Star EMS. The new contract includes a half-percent increase in the gross collection rate retained by the provider, from 4.25 to 4.75, or about $5,000 per year.

“Bloomfield Township collects an average of one million dollars per year in EMS transporting revenue,” said Bloomfield Township Fire Chief John LeRoy. “This equates to Medicount receiving approximately $43,500 annually in billing fee revenue. … This rate increase would bring the cost of EMS billing in Bloomfield Township to approximately $47,500 per year.”

LeRoy said the department requested proposals from billing providers in 2017, and chose Medicount after an extensive review.

“After reviewing the proposal comparing the new Medicount rate to rates quoted in the RFP four years ago from other billing companies, the new billing proposal rate is still extremely competitive compared to those rates,” he said. “I have also inquired with our neighbors in West Bloomfield Township and Waterford Township. Medicount’s proposed rate increase is still below the current rate set in their EMS billing agreements.”

LeRoy said the two-year contract allows the department to lock in the rate for more than one year to help protect against unexpected increases. However, he noted there haven’t been any increases in the past four years.

The contract was unanimously approved by trustees.