A software issue inside the Crawford County EMS department will wind up costing that department over the next nine months.
Joey Adams, EMS director, said that the current billing and patient services software used by the county will not be supported after Dec. 31, 2010, meaning the county has to either renew with its current company or find a new software company to supply the equipment.
Currently, the county uses software from RAM software out of Slippery Rock, Pa., however, Adams said that if the county stayed with RAM, there would be minimal applications and no migration of old billing information to new software.
While there would be no up-front cost to the county to purchase the new software package from RAM, Adams said that, over 15 years, the county would pay $302,400 for the new implementation.
“We also would not own the software from RAM,” Adams said.
The other option is through a company called Zoll Data Management in Broomfield, Colo. With Zoll, the county would have to pay for the software at a rate of $63,660, but the yearly maintenance agreement is $10,000 less than that of RAM.
“This will be very tough on our budget for next year,” Adams said.
But, he said the county is forced to do one or the other because their current software package will be outdated and no support will be offered after the first of the new year.
“They (RAM) are just forcing us to upgrade,” said Ross Varone, EMS information technology coordinator. “Either we upgrade or use another company.”
The cost of the software from Zoll would be approximately $225,960 over 15 years, roughly $75,000 less than that from RAM. In addition, Adams said that the county would own the software from Zoll and any upgrades come complementary with the software purchase. Updates with RAM software would cost the county $17,000 per update.
“All of the data with Zoll will be stored on our software, but there is also a web-based access as a backup,” Varone said.
The budget hit will come with the Zoll purchase as the county will have to pay nine, monthly installments of $7,033.33 beginning Nov. 1, 2010.
Adams said that another advantage to go with the Zoll software package is that billing turnaround in the department should be decreased by 10 days. Currently, the EMS department looks at a 14-day turnaround for billing, but with Zoll, that will be cut to 2-3 days.
“Every software has issues, but for what we do, the Zoll software makes the most financial sense,” Verone said.
Crawford County Counselor Jim Emerson said that utilizing the Zoll payment plan — without interest for the nine months — was “the way to go.”
County Commissioners agreed and gave Adams the go-ahead to purchase the Zoll software package and use the nine-month payment plan to own the software.
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140
