QUINCY, ILL. -- When the Adams County Ambulance Service is called to treat and possibly transport a patient, the fee that's charged is $700 for county residents.
Right now, the ambulance service currently uses a third party to bill the patients and that third party is responsible to collect the fees as well.
But the problem that's facing the ambulance service now, is that some of the fees that have been billed, haven't been collected and those uncollected fees are in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million dollars and that's frustrating to the ambulance chief and the board.
"Although it's reasonable and customary, we still have to raise our bill to meet our obligations and to enhance our revenue. It appears that money may have been there already not just being collected and that's the point that's frustrating," Paul Davis said. Davis is the Adams County Ambulance Chief.
Now the ambulance board wants a feasibility study done to estimate what the cost would be to bring the billing back in house and eliminate the third party billing vendor. The board also wants to see about using a new third party vendor that would manage the accounts receivable and possibly look into recouping of the fees that still haven't been collected.
"We're going to drill down and see specifically on these accounts what can be done to go back and collect this money and is it collectable and if not why did it fall off the table," Davis said.
The fiscal year for the ambulance service runs from December first to November 30th. So far this year, expenditures are running higher then revenue, but the board hopes to have it evened out by the end of November.
The ambulance board is set to meet next month to hear the report on the feasibility study.
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