August 2002

Cash Flow: Are You a River or a Swamp?

If any one aspect of your emergency ambulance service can cause you to go out of business, it is poor cash flow. Especially during the Fee Schedule transition when payers may be particularly slow in processing claims, money may be coming in, but if it’s not coming in fast enough, you can’t pay your bills. Cash flow concerns may be compounded for those ambulance services whose carrier is yet to transition to the Multi-Carrier-System (MCS). (See Sidebar.) Think of the difference between a river and a swamp – both have water, but because of the current, the river water will fill up a reservoir a lot faster than waiting for the swamp to drain into it.

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