Representatives of North Mississippi Medical Center’s Starkville-based CareFlight ambulatory helicopter program say their services are undercut in Oktibbeha County by a local policy sending flight requests to the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Golden Triangle Regional Airport-based operation.
OCH Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Richard Hilton, however, stands by the hospital’s decision to institute a first-call request with the Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Agency for UMMC’s flight services, saying hospital trustees weighed the financial burden both groups place on patients and passed a policy “in order to obtain minimum out-of-pocket” costs for those in need of air transport.
Jennifer Williams, NMMC CareFlight’s base supervisor at Starkville’s George M. Bryan Airport, told Oktibbeha County supervisors Monday that her organization could become underutilized because of the policy. Additionally, UMMC could choose to send its system’s other helicopters, which are based in Jackson and Meridian, to Starkville instead of contacting the local CareFlight service, thereby increasing the time it takes for transportation to arrive.
Williams shared a recent experience with supervisors: Starkville Fire Station No. 2, located on Airport Road, was dispatched to a nearby wreck, and 911 dispatchers requested a helicopter transport for at least one injury.
“(Dispatchers) called UMMC but were told they weren’t available. Of course, when (first responders) came back, they asked, ‘Where were you?’ We didn’t know (about the need for a flight),” she said. “We’re trying to get that changed. If (UMMC) is unavailable, then call us. If they’re nearby, that’s fine.”
An OCEMA report states 911 dispatchers requested an air transport for a Dec. 18 accident on Highway 12 — believed to be the same incident brought up by CareFlight — but a helicopter was not sent at that time because of poor weather conditions.
“We’re an accredited program, so we can’t do helicopter shopping. If we turn down a flight, we can’t call other providers,” said UMMC Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Wilson. “Helicopters and airplanes fly under two categories: visual flight rules and instrument flight rules. Most helicopter programs are VFR, but ours is IFR. Our capabilities to fly in marginal weather conditions are higher than many others in Mississippi and across the nation.”
NMMC’s public relations department declined a follow-up interview opportunity with The Dispatch Friday.
Dispatching process
OCEMA processes 911 calls for all of Oktibbeha County and handles dispatch functions for the sheriff’s department, all seven volunteer fire departments, Starkville Fire Department and OCH.
Emergency requests for ambulatory air services are passed to MED-COM, the UMMC group that dispatches flights, after the OCH Board of Trustees passed a resolution last year asking OCEMA to make the organization its first call for those services.
MED-COM either sends a UMMC helicopter or contacts “the nearest available helicopter to the location, and not necessarily one of their own,” OCEMA Director Shank Phelps said.
“That could be NMMC, Air Evac Lifeteam (Batesville) or Hospital Wing (Oxford),” he said.
OCH’s resolution came after the hospital learned UMMC’s service does not pursue additional money from patients after their insurance has paid, nor do they bill uninsured patients, Hilton said.
The hospital administrator said NMMC’s service, on the other hand, does both. Plus, he said NMMC’s service is not part of the Blue Cross insurance network.
“About two months prior of being made aware of UMMC’s air ambulance billing practice, a patient in the OCH ER was transferred by NMMC’s flight service to a tertiary care facility. The patient received a bill of approximately $55,000 for that service. NMMC’s flight service was out-of-network for that patient,” Hilton said in an email. “The policy is basic — to call UMMC flight service first for their availability, as well as taking into account the patient’s condition for clinical stability for air transportation. The board of trustees was very conscientious in wanting to lessen the financial burden as much as possible for any patient needing air transportation.”
Wilson confirmed his organization attempts to find alternative transportation if a UMMC helicopter is unavailable. Weather and patient conditions, he said, play important factors in who responds to emergency transport situations.
County options
Representatives with NMMC and Air Methods, the Colorado-based company that operates the CareFlight program, on Monday acknowledged the concerns and “bad press” surrounding the cost some patients pay for emergency air transportation.
Air Methods representatives said the county could consider entering into a service agreement that will keep Oktibbeha County residents from incurring out-of-pocket expenses if they ever require a medical flight.
An exact cost for the program was not offered at the table, and supervisors took the proposition under advisement.
“We work with every patient we have to try and come to an amicable solution to their bill. We recognize that it is a burden on everyone, and we look at everyone individually to come up with some resolution to get them a payment they can afford,” said one Air Methods representative The Dispatch was unable to identify Monday. “We collect less than the full amount; we’re collecting at a lesser rate; we settle with whatever the patient can end up affording.”
Wilson said UMMC has made a “conscientious decision to keep rates low and not get into the market of aggressive billing.”
“It’s a philosophical choice,” he said. “In the end, it means we’re not making a lot of money off the helicopter. Our goal is to break even, because it’s a service we need to provide for the state.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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