Sussex County’s ambulance program expects to bring new equipment and lower costs to the county’s 22 ambulance companies.
A request for proposal, or RFP, was opened earlier this year by Sussex County searching for a new vendor for ambulance units with a focus on cost effectiveness and minimal equipment changes.
Sussex County Finance Director Gina Jennings says the purchase schedule was made with consistency in mind.
“It will be a rolling schedule so that each company will see an ambulance once every seven years. So, we will start ordering again in May and then in July and then we’ll keep going to make sure that we’re spread out.” she said.
Jennings says the county will buy new ambulances in bulk with the first companies to receive upgrades determined by the Volunteer Fire Association.
She adds the county also picked a new ambulance billing company, New Jersey based Maverick RCM. Currently, all 22 departments pay for and manage the process separately.
The county is proposing a centralized billing service for all Sussex ambulance companies, which Jennings says could result in greatly reduced costs.
“Depending on the participation, if we get enough ambulance companies to participate, the rate that [Maverick RCM] is going to charge is 3.5%. That’s compared to today's average of 7%. We’ve cut the cost for the ambulance companies in half." she said.
Jennings adds if at least 15 ambulance companies participate, it’ll save around $500,000 on billing service costs.
Initial purchases for ambulances and implementation of the new billing partner will begin in October, but departments must notify her office if they want to participate.
