Ambulnz Health, LLC (Los Angeles County)

[Ambuwatcher]

Did I get bunched up in the suspicious new accounts pile?

I just like the drama of LA county EMS.

Yes

 

[Qulevrius]

I just like the drama of LA county EMS.

It's more like a Mexican soap opera.

 

[Mufasa556]

I'll keep this TeleNovela going.

My buddy is a Police officer for LA. He sent me this text the other night. I've never discussed Ambulnz with him before.

"You'll have to zoom in on it, but this is the stupidest ems company name I've ever seen in my life. It's like an ambulance company started by hipsters."

 

[Mufasa556]

That is about the response I expected.

Look, if Ambulnz is indeed going to revolutionize the socal ambulance industry, I'm all for it. If it's just another ruse to milk money and exploit naive new EMTs, kick rocks. I'd like their claims to be true. I have a hard time seeing how it's possible.

Those of us that have been in the LA/OC system know the games the companies play. Ambulnz comes in with wild proclamations and next level promises and those of us that have participated in that rodeo before are very suspicious. We're all sitting around watching to see what happens.

You can go back through many of my posts and see I've made fun of the stupid names private companies come up with. There's a company is San Diego called Pineapple Express Ambulance! Ambulnz is just another head scratcher name in the long list of bizarre names. They're out and about and people are starting to take notice. It's a giant blue transit van imprinted with a heart and starts AMBU, but then jags off with a LNZ for some reason. Its confusing. Is it pronounced Ambu-lens?

So my buddy saw it and said, "Uh...what?" Like I assume most of us here and crews around the county are saying. He thought the name was dumb. That's the company's first impression from someone tangentially connected to the industry. I don't think that makes him, or me, a Dbag.

I'm sure many new corporate names sounded silly when they first came about. Like Apple, Microsoft, or CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet (formerly known as InterSlice and EdgeCom). I'll be the first to eat SoCal IFT crow if Ambulnz delivers on their claims. Until then, I'll wait and suspiciously watch what happens.

Sorry I offended you friend. You have the best day ever.

 

[Ambuwatcher]

That is about the response I expected.

Look, if Ambulnz is indeed going to revolutionize the socal ambulance industry, I'm all for it. If it's just another ruse to milk money and exploit naive new EMTs, kick rocks. I'd like their claims to be true. I have a hard time seeing how it's possible.

Those of us that have been in the LA/OC system know the games the companies play. Ambulnz comes in with wild proclamations and next level promises and those of us that have participated in that rodeo before are very suspicious. We're all sitting around watching to see what happens.

You can go back through many of my posts and see I've made fun of the stupid names private companies come up with. There's a company is San Diego called Pineapple Express Ambulance! Ambulnz is just another head scratcher name in the long list of bizarre names. They're out and about and people are starting to take notice. It's a giant blue transit van imprinted with a heart and starts AMBU, but then jags off with a LNZ for some reason. Its confusing. Is it pronounced Ambu-lens?

So my buddy saw it and said, "Uh...what?" Like I assume most of us here and crews around the county are saying. He thought the name was dumb. That's the company's first impression from someone tangentially connected to the industry. I don't think that makes him, or me, a Dbag.

I'm sure many new corporate names sounded silly when they first came about. Like Apple, Microsoft, or CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet (formerly known as InterSlice and EdgeCom). I'll be the first to eat SoCal IFT crow if Ambulnz delivers on their claims. Until then, I'll wait and suspiciously watch what happens.

Sorry I offended you friend. You have the best day ever.

BOOM!

 

[NPO]

So this is my objective opinion.

The ambulance I saw is a new model Ford transit with new equipment inside. (Yes the paint scheme is ridiculous.)

The two EMTs I saw were both young, wearing clean well-fitted uniforms consisting of a sport polo with an embroidered logo and the word EMT clearly displayed below that, and some trauma pants. Both employees were clean shaven.

Ambulance equipment (lights, radios, etc) was minimal, but met every need.

The EMT said not all employees are on the "pilot program" but the ones that are work 4 days per week, and their quota is seven transports. If they meet the 7 transports in a single day, they get $40/patient. I'd they do not, they get hourly pay.

I can't objectivly say anything about the companies operations, but I can say this; from the patients perspective they seem to get good service. Appearance goes a long way to instilling confidence in the car you are receiving as a patient.

I don't think this company has any aspirations to be a 911 operator, because that's not where the money is, and we know what this company is after.

So, yeah, the company is strange from an EMS standpoint, but the patients seem to be getting at least a comfortable tranaport.

From what I saw on my brief encounter, the crew looked more professional than many other companies I've seen, including AMR. There's nothing I hate more than untucked uniform shirts.

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[NPO]

Edit: that is to say, SOME people at AMR, not as a whole, and not singling out AMR in any way, they are just the biggest name.

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[VentMonkey]

Edit: that is to say, SOME people at AMR, not as a whole, and not singling out AMR in any way, they are just the biggest name.

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Edit: that is to say, SOME people at AMR, not as a whole, and not singling out AMR in any way, they are just the biggest name.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

I don't know?...I would say this chap has his shirt tucked in and appears "very professional".

 

[VentMonkey]

Forgive the bottom file, I had to dig quite a bit for this old skool gem, but alas, my beautiful daughters are inadvertently posted on social media.

 

[TKx]

The ambulance I saw is a new model Ford transit with new equipment inside. (Yes the paint scheme is ridiculous.)

I'm actually a fan of these nontraditional paint jobs, like Impulse's highlighter yellow and Gerber's bizarre blue and yellow, though I'm probably an outlier there. Putting those upside down chevrons on the back would make it look more ambulance-like.

The company name is the most questionable aspect for me, but at least the logo design isn't a disaster like Aegis or Royalty.

 

[NPO]

View attachment 3112
I don't know?...I would say this chap has his shirt tucked in and appears "very professional".

Yes well that military instilled a bit of pride and professionalism in you that seems lost on so many young EMTs.

And I realize that I am 100% in the demographic of "young EMT"

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[NPO]

I'm actually a fan of these nontraditional paint jobs, like Impulse's highlighter yellow and Gerber's bizarre blue and yellow, though I'm probably an outlier there. Putting those upside down chevrons on the back would make it look more ambulance-like.

The company name is the most questionable aspect for me, but at least the logo design isn't a disaster like Aegis or Royalty.

Royalty has actually stepped it up.

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[Jim37F]

Forgive the bottom file, I had to dig quite a bit for this old skool gem, but alas, my beautiful daughters are inadvertently posted on social media.

I was gonna say! Cute kids btw

Anyways, although I've seen their rigs more and more driving around, my interaction with the actual crews have been limited to a grand total of two times of me holding the wall in the ED waiting on a bed while they walked by headed to the floor with empty gurneys. The very first time one of them asked in passing where the elevators to wherever section of the hospital (we were at Harbor UCLA, aka Harbor General aka Rampart Base.....fairly big Level I hospital lol) and I replied that I didn't know. Without breaking their stride continuing down the hallway the

The nice thing about polos is that they are hard to mess up, even untucked a polo is casual enough to look just fine, vs. when the usual button up uniform shirt is worn untucked (especially when I've seen crews from various ambulance companies pull up to the hospital and get out and their uniform shirt is both untucked and unbuttoned, and then they still walk into the hospital like that! Even in the 911 setting I've never felt the need for "tactical" style cargo pants, and I sure don't see the need for IFT to wear them but oh well...

As silly as I think the spelling of the name and baby blue color scheme with comic sans fonts, It's not the field crews or the ambulances that our issues are with, it's the vaunted "72K/year" management is promising, which to reiterate, is a higher starting salary than many nurses, firefighters, law enforcement, etc, that few of us believe Ambulnz will be able to afford to continue to pay out in the face of decreasing payments from insurance companies.....I have a sneaking suspicious feeling that not to far in the future that crews on the "7 patients per shift =big paycheck" plan mentioned above will suddenly find themselves getting only 6 patients each shift and therefore not getting the nice bonus because the finance manager is telling dispatch manager they simply cannot afford to do so....

Once again if Ambulnz truly has figured out how to successfully pay an EMT-Basic a very nice middle class living wage for the exact same work and job duties and environment that literally everyone else has only been able to pay minimum wage or a little more so, then great, I may just leave the 911 setting, I just do not believe they will truly be able to fulfill that promise...(sure, they just started operations and may be able to have nice paychecks for select crews in the beginning, but you can come out of the gate sprinting the first 100meters but this is a marathon, not a dash....)

 

[TKx]

Well, at least I have an idea where the 72k figure came from, though I honestly don't think everyone should be so hung up on that exact number. I'm sure people would be happy with any effort to provide a raise compared to the Los Angeles norm, even if it never reaches such a fantastic height.

$40 per call x 7 calls x 5 days/week x 52 weeks = 72.8k

Probably ends up being 60+ hours a week though.

 

[gonefishing]

Well, at least I have an idea where the 72k figure came from, though I honestly don't think everyone should be so hung up on that exact number. I'm sure people would be happy with any effort to provide a raise compared to the Los Angeles norm, even if it never reaches such a fantastic height.

$40 per call x 7 calls x 5 days/week x 52 weeks = 72.8k

Probably ends up being 60+ hours a week though.

More like 67,200 before tax. Doing the math you will see a little less. What has me puzzled speaking of numbers and math, most medicare collection is only 4% of the bill. So your seeing $40 to $60 per call if your lucky thats before cost, insurance, workmans comp the list goes on and on and on. You have to be rather large and running a ton of calls in order to be in the black. Even in the black your not going to be left with much unless you have an owner thats wealthy and out in the field running with his crews because they love ems. Remember all the companys that just got busted a few years back alone in So Cal that we're ordered to pay back around $11.5 million each for incorrect billing purposes? That's how you make the money. Not saying they are, but alot of the smaller companys do not have the best track records with plenty of public arrest records and investigation records performed at the federal level. Pictures speak a thousand words and the people (the workers) are still around just at different companys and can attest to it. Such as one company who will remain nameless that had crews fill out run sheets and had them correct it to make it billable by medicare/medi-cal standards due to the fact the patient was ambulatory and had no need for an ambulance. Or how about the other company that has an electronic form where they simply add in the vitals the patient signs the billing form and there is no narrative or auto generated? Or the many doctors that see no harm no foul when they falsify a 3 month pcs form for patients to have needed ambulance transport when there is no need. Or the case manager that wants the patient gone to free up a bed so falsifys a pcs form? No company thats money hungry will question or turn that down. The issue with everything I listed is there are only 2 field inspectors for DHS in LA city. The population is enormous there for it falls in the cracks. You don't have a system thats able to clean house nor the man power. You stomp one weed and a month later it comes back as a different weed with a different name and color. You can paint lipstick on a pig but its still a pig.

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[fatkid]

So this is my objective opinion.

The ambulance I saw is a new model Ford transit with new equipment inside. (Yes the paint scheme is ridiculous.)

The two EMTs I saw were both young, wearing clean well-fitted uniforms consisting of a sport polo with an embroidered logo and the word EMT clearly displayed below that, and some trauma pants. Both employees were clean shaven.

Ambulance equipment (lights, radios, etc) was minimal, but met every need.

The EMT said not all employees are on the "pilot program" but the ones that are work 4 days per week, and their quota is seven transports. If they meet the 7 transports in a single day, they get $40/patient. I'd they do not, they get hourly pay.

I can't objectivly say anything about the companies operations, but I can say this; from the patients perspective they seem to get good service. Appearance goes a long way to instilling confidence in the car you are receiving as a patient.

I don't think this company has any aspirations to be a 911 operator, because that's not where the money is, and we know what this company is after.

So, yeah, the company is strange from an EMS standpoint, but the patients seem to be getting at least a comfortable tranaport.

From what I saw on my brief encounter, the crew looked more professional than many other companies I've seen, including AMR. There's nothing I hate more than untucked uniform shirts.

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So that is the model they were talking about. Why didn't they just come out and say it at the very beginning. I don't work there but it does not seem that bad if you think you can get 7 transports in a shift. Even if you cant, maybe their starting wage is higher than most. Thanks for posting their model, clears a lot of the rumors up.

 

[aquabear]

Can't wait to see all the transfer services scatter like roaches if OIG comes in and requires pre-authorization for transports and actually looks what kind of PTs they are transporting.

 

[Qulevrius]

So that is the model they were talking about. Why didn't they just come out and say it at the very beginning. I don't work there but it does not seem that bad if you think you can get 7 transports in a shift. Even if you cant, maybe their starting wage is higher than most. Thanks for posting their model, clears a lot of the rumors up.

It's the suspense. Think of the suspense. 7 runs per shift, for a non-emergency company, is borderline suicide by amberlamps - unless the hospitals and the SNFs roll out the red carpet 10 min before the crew hits the scene.

It's very easy for the 'masterminds' to play with numbers on their PCs. Sure, 7 runs a day, 5 days a week, times 52 a year. Enslave yourselves, in the name of Allah.

 

[CALEMT]

The other day I worked back to back 12's and ran 14 calls in that 24 hour period. I ran 9 calls in the first 12 hours. Those are 911 ALS calls that take about a hour or so to complete. It's been awhile since I've done BLS IFT but a hour was about my turnaround time (pick up the pt and drop them off) plus add in any additional time for the PCR. I think crews will be burnt out by the 6 month mark if they're constantly running 7 calls per shift. Thats a busy shift regardless if you work 12's or not. I'm assuming that Ambulnz has 12 hour shifts, anything less than that is pure insanity.

 

[NPO]

What has me puzzled speaking of numbers and math, most medicare collection is only 4% of the bill. So your seeing $40 to $60 per call if your lucky thats before cost.

Not sure where you're getting those numbers. Maybe the Los Angeles market is different, but MediCare pays us in the neighborhood of $500/transport give or take. MediCal is about $120.

Doesn't invalidate your point, but $40 is far off from $500.


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