Is it Feasible to Promise Quality Patient Care While Slashing Budgets?

Is it feasible to promise quality while slashing budgets? Governmental entities throughout the United States continue to face tightening budgets, and public safety is facing increased scrutiny. EMS is the most vulnerable of the three public safety services, and this vulnerability has increased over the last two decades as large, for-profit ambulance conglomerates have swooped in and seduced elected officials with the promise of slashing budgets while improving quality. Sound too good to be true? That’s because it is. It seems counterintuitive that a private company can replace a publicly-funded service, decrease costs, and improve quality—while still being able to make a sizeable profit for its executives and shareholders. Like many other sweetheart deals, to find out how this model works, we must follow the money. Although there are some high-quality, private, for-profit EMS services, a disturbing pattern of behavior has revealed itself over the last decade, and it explains how these companies can turn a profit while government-based services struggle. UnderBidding the Contract The initial lure of the transition to private, for-profit EMS services is the sticker price. The promise of a decrease in tax dollars spent, along with the assurance of continued quality, is very tempting for officials. Although the initial price is attractive, there are often hidden costs and consequences. Since 2000, there have been multiple instances where, in a effort to take over services fro...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Columns Administration and Leadership Source Type: news