Ashland Fire & Rescue Goes With FireMed
Ashland Fire & Rescue is the latest membership program to go with the secured management agreement offered by the Ambulance Administrative Services section of Springfield Fire. Under the agreement FireMed will manage the entire program from membership campaign to integration with billing, which Springfield also does for Ashland. The agreement guarantees Ashland a $16,000 increase in net revenue the first year. As of the last week of October Ashland is already at 100% of that goal.
FireMed Tops $2 Million
FireMed, the joint membership program of Eugene, Springfield, and Lane Rural Fire Departments, raised more than $2 million in revenue during the just-completed campaign. Official membership stands at over 32,500 with an increase of about 1,500 members, or about 4.5% for the year. The increase is especially important since the program was hit with a high number of lapsed memberships, probably attributable to high unemployment and underemployment in Lane County.
Life Flight Network benefited from an even higher increase in membership and revenue. Sold as FireMed Plus, the air ambulance provider's revenue grew by more than 20% from increased memberships and a small increase in membership fee. About 38% of FireMed members bought the Plus option in 2009, compared to about 33% in 2008. FireMed expects this rate to continue to increase as the Life Flight message becomes more familiar. Life Flight started providing the first ever air ambulance service to Lane County in 2008.
JobCare - Bringing Younger Members Into Your Membership Program
If your program is like ours, it is heavy in Medicare-aged members. You already suffer from insufficient Medicare reimbursement, and then write off the rest of the bill too. What we all need is more younger members
One of our solutions is JobCare. We offer employers a discounted membership that they can provide to their employees in any manner they wish. Most simply pass along the discount and the special application forms we provide. Employees return that applications to us and we process them as we do regular memberships. So far, it is working well.
JobCare offers a $5 discount per membership, allows prorated memberships so that we can sell it year round (all of our memberships expire on June 30) and encourages employers to pay part or all of the fee. We have a mix of employers who pay all, part, or none of the fee. After two campaigns, and limited marketing effort, JobCare is paying off. Many JobCare members switched from regular FireMed, which cost us $5 per membership, but enough new members joined to more than make up the difference. In 2008 we gained $7.65 for every dollar we lost by members switching.
The downside? Many of our employers also have workplaces in other areas of the state, maybe yours. They will not offer the program unless they can offer it to all of their employees. That means we will contact you about joining this program. If you want to jump to the head of the line, email us.
How the Reciprocal Agreement Can Benefit Your EMS Service
By joining the Reciprocal Agreement you offer your members coverage in most of the state of Oregon. There has even been some interest expressed from programs in California. The expanded coverage area gives your residents more reason to join your program, which increases your membership, and the revenue to your system. The Reciprocal Agreement is a great cooperative effort that benefits everyone: patients, members, and your EMS system.
Does Your Community Know About Your Membership Program?
Having a membership programs comes with an obligation to thoroughly inform everyone that they have an option to high ambulance bills. Public Information and education is a vital and complex component of your program. Remember that your members are important advocates for your service in your community. You want as many of them as you can get. Be certain that everyone knows of your program by using a variety of media to get the word out. A single mailing is rarely enough,especially if the first person who touches the mail throws your notice in the recycle bin. Contact us to learn more about getting a better return on your public education and information investment.
