By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


Livingston County Emergency Medical Services is doing internal restructuring that will allow them to better perform billing in a timely manner.

EMS Director David Feldpausch, in a memo to the County Board of Commissioners, said this year has been a roller coaster ride for keeping up with billing calls. When COVID slowed down in the summer, EMS billers were able to drop their “days to bill” from 70 to 10, but with every holiday, vacation, sick, or personal day they lose ground and the back log grows, creating stress for staff.

Feldpausch noted that previously the department’s Finance Manager did the bulk of the billing work when things were backlogged, but that position was eliminated earlier this year and they do not have the staff to keep up with current run volumes.

Not having the budget for additional labor expenses, his solution is to reduce their Administrative Specialist position from full time to part time, and to add a Billing Specialist part time. The department is converting to a scheduling software application that will eliminate a large portion of the payroll work done by the Administrative Specialist. Feldpausch believes the Billing Specialist will give them what they need with a minimal impact on the rest of their operations. It has the added benefit of saving money, as the Billing Speciailist would be on a lower salary step with reduced cost of benefits.

The director said it was a difficult decision to make, but one he feels is necessary. The Livingston County Board of Commissioners approved his request as part of their consent agenda, earlier this week.