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Success Stories

April 15, 2015 3 min read

In Jeopardy of Losing Payment for EMS Calls, Yuma Fire Department Leans on TargetSolutions

Industry:

EMSPublic Safety

Solution:

Compliance and CertificationEMS

While Yuma Fire Department was completing the process of transitioning its training program to TargetSolutions, there was confusion about whether or not a paramedic had sufficient training hours. Having an employee work with an expired license would have prevented the department from billing, resulting in a huge financial loss. Fortunately, Yuma was able to run a report through TargetSolutions showing the training hours were current and the paramedic was still certified.[/caption]

After learning one of his paramedics had potentially worked more than a month with an expired license, Michael Walton sat in the EMS Chief’s office doing simple arithmetic.

“You are talking about a 45-day period, probably 15 shifts, 10 calls each day — just do the math and you can see it was going to be a significant amount of money we were going to be out,” said Walton, who serves as the Yuma Fire Department’s battalion chief and found himself in a “scramble” after being contacted by a hospital coordinator responsible for monintoring the department’s EMS certifications.

“It looked like one of our paramedics was missing an ACLS course,” said Walton. “It was pretty embarrassing to think something like this had slipped through the cracks.”

Even worse, the recordkeeping error was potentially going to cost tens of thousands of dollars, because the department would not be allowed to bill for any transports the paramedic ran with the expired license. Making it even more stressful was the fact this all went down while the department was in the process of moving its training records to TargetSolutions, and not everything was believed to have made the switch. Some documents were still being logged in the city’s database, others through the department’s Electronic Patient Care Reporting software. The department had only recently signed on with TargetSolutions and was still working its way through the transition.

Still, Walton logged into the online fire department training management system hoping he would find the missing information. That hope was rewarded.

“I logged into TargetSolutions to see if the paramedic’s training was moved over. It was a big relief to see the training was there. The way we looked at it, we saved thousands of dollars and paid for TargetSolutions with that one incident.”

Michael Walton

Battalion Chief

Walton was grateful the department’s chief had backed the recommendation to move records to one centralized online system: TargetSolutions. “Thanks to the chief’s support, we were moving everything into one location and we were able to document the ACLS training happened,” Walton said.

With this in the rearview mirror, Walton is now starting to maximize TargetSolutions’ full array of capabilities. In addition to moving over training records and tracking EMS training, the department is finding innovative ways to utilize the system.

“We have put together a program in TargetSolutions that tracks all of those things we are doing in the community for public education,” said Walton. “We were able to build reports on grade-school ages, contacts, hours — that is a big part of our accreditation and we are now able to document what we are doing with TargetSolutions.”

Beyond that, the department is looking to TargetSolutions to help improve its ISO rating, Walton said.

“During our last ISO review, we got down to a 2 (rating), but my goal before I retire is a 1,” Walton said. “I think we are now going to be able to track training even better — so that is a big push for us.”

Walton praised TargetSolutions’ client services department for making implementation simple and providing excellent ongoing support, he said.

“When we first did the orientation, it was really impressive,” Walton said. “I tell guys, ‘if you have a problem, give them a call and they will get right back with you. The help support is outstanding.’ … TargetSolutions has definitely enhanced the way we operate.”

About TargetSolutions

TargetSolutions delivers cutting-edge software applications, engaging online training courses, and world-class customer service. The company was founded in 1999 and today there are more than 2,000 organizations across the country using TargetSolutions’ innovative technology to solve their training challenges. TargetSolutions is headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information, please call 1-800-840-8048 or check online at www.targetsolutions.com.

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