SENATE, No. 2504

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED APRIL 16, 2018

 


 

Sponsored by:

Senator  CHRIS A. BROWN

District 2 (Atlantic)

Senator  JEFF VAN DREW

District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Prohibits emergency medical services providers from billing patients unless provider actually provided necessary services when responding to emergency dispatch.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act concerning billing for emergency medical services and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

      1.   a.   No person shall be billed by any emergency medical services provider, as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2017, c.116 (C.26:2K-66), for the provision of services unless the provider:

     (1)   was directed to respond to the scene of the incident by an emergency medical services dispatch center, as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2017, c.116 (C.26:2K-66);

     (2)   rendered emergency medical services to the patient that were medically necessary, as determined by generally-accepted standards of practice for the provision of emergency medical services; and

     (3)   was an appropriate entity to provide such services.

      b.   For the purposes of paragraph (3) of subsection a. of this section, an emergency medical services provider shall be considered an appropriate entity to provide services if:

     (1)   the provider was the first provider to arrive on the scene and commence providing emergency medical services to the patient;

     (2)   the provider was the first provider to arrive on the scene with the requisite training to render the level of emergency medical services necessary to treat the patient’s symptoms, including, but not limited to, advanced life support services; or

     (3)   more than one individual at the scene required the provision of emergency medical services, and the provider either:

     (a)   rendered treatment to an individual who was not being currently treated by another provider; or

     (b)   rendered treatment to an individual who required a level of care that was not available from another provider that was present at the scene and that was currently available to provide such services, including, but not limited to, the provision of advanced life support services.

      c.    In the event that a mobile intensive care unit is dispatched to a scene and it is determined that no individual at the scene required the provision of advanced life support services, the responding unit shall report such information, along with the information required to be reported pursuant to subsection a. of section 2 of P.L.2017, c.116 (C.26:2K-67), to the Department of Health.  The department shall review such reports to determine whether there exists a pattern of unnecessary mobile intensive care unit dispatches in any region of the State and whether such unnecessary dispatches were preventable.  Based on this review, the department may revise or update the pre-hospital protocols developed pursuant to subsection c. of section 3 of P.L.2017, c.116 (C.26:2K-68) as may be necessary to reduce the number or rate of unnecessary mobile intensive care unit dispatches.

 

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill prohibits an emergency medical services provider from billing a patient unless the provider was dispatched to the scene of the incident, actually provided medically-necessary services, and was an appropriate entity to provide such services.  A provider will be deemed an “appropriate entity” for the purposes of the bill if: (1) the provider is the first to arrive at the scene and render aid to the patient; (2) the provider is the first to arrive at the scene with the requisite level of training needed to treat the patient, such as training in advanced life support services; or (3) multiple individuals at the scene require the provision of emergency medical services and the provider renders aid to a patient who is otherwise not receiving treatment or who is not currently receiving an appropriate level of treatment from another provider at the scene, such as treatment involving advanced life support services.

     Additionally, in any case in which a mobile intensive care unit (MICU) was dispatched to a scene and no patient at the scene required the provision of advanced life support services, the MICU is to report this information to the Department of Health, which is to review all such reports to determine if there are any patterns of unnecessary MICU dispatches in the State and whether such dispatches are preventable.  The department may update or revise its pre-hospital protocols as necessary to reduce the number or rate of unnecessary MICU dispatches.

     This bill is in response to reports of incidents in which patients have been billed by emergency medical services providers that were dispatched to the scene of an emergency call but provided no actual services.  It is the sponsor’s belief that gathering data on unnecessary dispatches and limiting the ability to bill patients when services are not actually rendered will help reduce the cost of health care in the State and help foster a more efficient and effective system of emergency medical services in New Jersey.