Vital and Proficient, Pasadena Fire Department Paramedics Will Cost More to the Injured

The Pasadena City Council last night quietly approved the extension of a contract with Wittman Enterprises, LLC. In the extension, Wittman agreed to continue to reduce the fee it receives for its work in exchange for the contract extension.

The nature of its work? Wittman bills the thousands of patients each year who are treated by trained Pasadena Fire Department (The Pasadena Fire Department) paramedic and emergency specialists — everything from heart attacks, drug overdoses, delivering a baby, seizures, broken bones, allergic reactions and burns, to car accidents and shootings.

Approximately 75 to 80 percent of emergency calls in Pasadena require a paramedic on the scene.

And paramedic service, excellent as it is, will cost more in 2017. Fees for services and surcharges for medications will not rise in cost, but the City will institute a brand new, across the board paramedic billing fee of $349.

The State of California allows the the Pasadena Fire Department to charge for reimbursements for what it spends in emergency medical situation. The only exemptions are refusals of service when patient did not request a paramedic response, or determination of death without resuscitation.

Pasadena Fire Department paramedics are equipped with medical technology known as Advanced Life Support (ALS) equipment and Basic Life Support (BLS) equipment. The use of either equipment is a deciding factor in how much an individual is billed for services. According to a 2016/2017 fiscal year report from the City of Pasadena, the basic charge for paramedic ambulance services for ALS is $1,445 and $1,033 for BLS.

Drugs, medications and IV services are charged at cost plus 75%.

The cost of being rescued and treated is factored by the number of various tools and materials used by paramedics at an incident, including oxygen, splints, an IV, and defibrillation, as examples.

Oxygen is billed at $64.00, administering and monitoring an IV is $53.00, and defibrillation is also $53.00. The cost of billing adds another charge — new this fiscal year — of $349. In other words, the patient or insurance company is charged for the service of being charged.

“Firefighter EMTs/paramedics are trained to treat the sick and injured and transport them to the hospitals,” said Battalion Chief Mike Barilla. “There’s an array of medical problems and injuries that our paramedics are trained to treat and take care of,” he explained.

“We can do in the field with ALS equipment for at least the first twenty minutes what they would do in a hospital in that same amount of time,” said Fire Department Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian.

“We can’t make a profit, but we can bill for reimbursement for what we use,” Barilla added.

Individuals who are treated by paramedics are billed through their insurance companies, and the pricing is same for all patients, whether or not they are residents of Pasadena.

Following any EMS incident, a report is generated from each call via a tablet app, which then uploads the report to the billing company, who then processes the report and creates the final bill.

“If an individual’s insurance information was gathered, then their insurance company will receive a bill from the City,” said Barilla.

The Pasadena Fire Department has a total of five rescue ambulances stationed throughout the city. At least one paramedic is staffed on a fire engine at all times.

“You’ll always get a fire engine and/or fire truck with a rescue ambulance,” said Derderian, who added that, typically six personnel respond to any given medical call.

Professional paramedics begin their careers as six-month hires as Emergency Medical Technicians, as they become certified through the State and accredited through L.A. County. The process concludes with working with a local fire agency for a nine-month training program, followed by three months of field internships before becoming certified paramedics.

“It’s extensive, and it’s a lot of information learned in a short amount of time. An EMT has basic advanced first aid, a paramedic has advanced specialized training,” explained Barilla. ?

Wittman Enterprises’ five-year contract term ends in December 2016. Wittman has voluntarily reduced the contract billing rate from 5.25% to 5.0 % for several years. The rate reduction results in a savings of approximately $14,000 over the six-month period of the extended contract, according to a City staff report.

Wittman Enterprises, LLC is a full service billing agency, which currently provides billing services to the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and other California cities.