Are we communicating better after 9/11?
Originally Posted on EMS1 on September 8th, 2022. Author: Tim Nowak Starting out in my fire and EMS career – shortly after the events of 9/11 – I was able to see the increase in federal funding geared toward unified command and incident management training, interoperability and radio communications, and specialty …
Explaining the Asterisk Behind Your 2020* Data
Author: Tim Nowak 2020* will forever have an asterisk behind it in terms of data management – including call volume trending, operations-finance relationships, overtime expenditures, sick time usage, disposable supply increases, (lack of) revenue generation, and just about EVERYTHING fire & EMS related. As fire & EMS chiefs, we …
Thank you, Fire and EMS Leaders!
We appreciate all of the ways you make a difference! Living this year’s National EMS Week theme through your work every day, thank you for always “Rising to the Challenge.” With over 70 years of combined Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) field experience, our team at Public Consulting Group …
What being “essential” means
Author: Tim Nowak Being essential is not a golden ticket. It’s also not a silver bullet. At best, it’s an unfunded mandate, but that’s the start that many EMS agencies need in order to begin getting the recognition and funding they deserve. Being classified as an “essential service” through …
Grant Opportunities
PCG understands that departments are in need of additional funding to support operations. We have also bared witness to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that go unclaimed each year in grant opportunities. What is the disconnect? What are the hardships in applying for grants? That is what PCG would …
PCG’s Webinar “For Comparison’s Sake” In Review
PCG’s Public Safety Consulting Service (PSCS) team presented the webinar “For Comparison’s Sake!”, which takes a case example approach toward identifying data metrics, operational factors, financial impacts, and policy elements that could all be utilized as relative comparable points from within – and outside of – fire and EMS departments …
Federal Behavioral Health Plan Released
Originally Posted on PCG’s Health Policy News on March 30, 2022. Author: Lisa Kaplan Howe This month, the Biden administration released a plan for tackling the nationwide behavioral health crisis. Challenges related to behavioral health are not new, but have only worsened during the now two-year COVID-19 pandemic. According …
The American Medical Association Releases a Report Urging Healthcare Stakeholders to Enhance Behavioral Health Integration Through Digital Tools
Originally Posted on PCG’s Health Policy News on March 30, 2022. Author: Raneem Rayes The American Medical Association (AMA) released a report defining opportunities to incorporate technology to advance behavioral health integration (BHI) and outlining a framework to measure BHI models. This report, which was informed by a diverse working group, …
Is Your Department Ready for a Medicaid Audit?
Many of PCG’s ambulance clients across the country are familiar with state Medicaid agency desk reviews. These pre-payment reviews help identify reporting errors that could result in overpayment of supplemental Medicaid revenues to providers. Recently, supplemental payment programs in several states have implemented more in-depth audits, generally post-payment, that require …
Safety Stand Down 2022
The International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Safety, Health and Survival Section, the National Volunteer Fire Council, and the National Fire Protection Association have announced the theme for the 2022 Safety Stand Down is Situational Awareness: The Foundation for Good Decision-Making. The week will be broken down into five daily focus …