Title
Emergency Medical Services, a division of the Chief Administrative Office, recommending the Board adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 041-2025 authorizing an update to the Ambulance Rate Schedule for County Service Area 3 and Resolution 040-2025 authorizing an update to the Ambulance Rate Schedule for County Service Area 7, to provide an updated description and definition for Critical Care/Specialty Care Transports to include the expanded scope of practice for Critical Care Paramedics, with no change to the previously established ambulance rates.
FUNDING: N/A
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The County of El Dorado provides ambulance services throughout the Tahoe Basin through County Service Area No. 3 (CSA 3) and the West Slope through County Service Area No. 7 (CSA 7). Ambulance Services are managed by the Chief Administrative Office, Emergency Medical Services Division (EMS).
The Board of Supervisors established ambulance billing rates for CSA 3 and CSA 7 on November 17, 2015, and updated rates for CSA 3 on June 21, 2022. The Ambulance Rate Schedule Resolutions provide for an annual increase based on an average of the US Medical Care Services and the San Francisco-Oakland All Items indices of the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. Pursuant to Government Code Sections 54985 and 66016 and County Ordinance Code Section 1.04.260, any changes to the current rates, charges, and fees may only be modified, set, or fixed by the Board of Supervisors by Resolution.
The current approved Ambulance Rate Schedules for CSA 3 and CSA 7 define Critical Care Transports as care provided by a registered nurse during transport from a hospital to another receiving facility. EMS has updated the requirements for Critical Care/Specialty Care Transports to include care provided by specially trained paramedics, to provide an expanded scope of practice during Critical Care/Specialty Care Transports. The recommended resolutions update the Ambulan...
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