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FEB 141989 BOOK 76 r ct 117 with available insurance benefits would have their insurance carri- ers billed for services rendered as relates to emergency medical services ALS transport. Since the Indian River Memorial Hospital has a subsidiary engaged in billing for emergency medical services known as Treasure Coast Collections, Inc., a Billing Service Agreement has been received and minor changes have been made thereto. The agreement provides, among other things, that Treasure Coast Collections, Inc., will cause a monthly reconciliation of all payments received to be pro- vided to the County. For this billing service, Treasure Coast Collections has requested compensation which will be the greater of seven percent (7%) of collections per month or $2,000 per month. Indian River County estimates that $204,000 will be collected during the eight month period between February 1, 1989 and September 30, 1989. If that sum is collected, Treasure Coast Collections will be compensated $16,000 or $2,000 per month since the 7% fee would be the lesser. The fee would be deducted from the amount of insur- ance billing funds forwarded to the County each month by Treasure Coast Collections. ALTERNATIVES AND ANALYSIS Indian River County plans to explore the possibility of establish- ing a process for the EMS billing at the Department of Emergency Management Services during the next budget year. It is felt that the billing can be completed by staffing a position for this task and that a collateral benefit could be realized in terms of assist- ance with other administrative functions of the office. The primary reason for recommending the Billing Service Agreement is that it has been a major task in the short term in preparing for and taking on the responsibility and management of the EMS ALS System which became a reality on February 1, 1989. It was felt that it would be beneficial to the County for another entity to collect the insurance funds to reduce the tax revenues required for operation of the EMS ALS System and allow for staff to concen- trate their attention on resolution of minor problems as well as continuing to improve and expand the system. Other collection/billing agencies have contacted the Department of Emergency Management Services offering their services at varying levels of compensation. Some were not located in the immediate area and others did not perform the level of service that was desired. One major problem that would be resolved with Treasure Coast Col- lections is that insurance information about the patient would be immediately available to the agency so that billing would be done on a daily basis. Other agencies would have to arrange to get this information and additional fees would possible be incurred for this service. RECOrMENDATION Staff recommends approval of the Billing Service Agreement with the Indian River Memorial Hospital subsidiary known as Treasure Coast Collections, Inc., wherein the agency would receive com- pensation in the amount of the greater of seven percent (7%) of collections or $2,000 per month. Staff also recommends that the Board of County Commissioners author- ize the Chairman to execute the Billing Service Agreement so the process can be implemented in a timely manner thereby reducing the amount of tax generated revenues required to fund the EMS ALS system. 46