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Audit Objective

Determine whether City officials effectively managed emergency medical services (EMS) billing.

Key Findings

• The EMS Department did not bill for 614 incidents resulting in $417,600 of unbilled medical services and inaccurately billed 9 incidents totaling $8,300; this equates to approximately $200,000 in lost revenue at the current rate of collection.
• No one reconciles the billings to the medical services provided.
• The EMS Department had 903 unserviceable incidents resulting in approximately $400,000 in unrecoverable costs.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that all services provided are billed appropriately in accordance with the adopted rate schedule.
• Routinely reconcile billings to medical services provided.
• Consider addressing whether the EMS Department should bill for unserviceable incidents.

City officials disagreed with certain aspects of our findings and recommendations, but indicated they have initiated corrective action. Appendix B includes our comments on issues raised in the City’s response letter.