Air Methods shares 2023 industry trends
US medical transport provider Air Methods has outlined three factors that had a big impact on the air medical sector in 2023
Air Methods, a US-based air ambulance provider, has outlined a list of three factors that influenced the shape of the industry in 2023, and will likely continue to guide how the sector develops in the new year.
The company stated: “Air medical transport has been facing challenges in recent years, with a few emerging trends currently at the forefront.”
Air Methods also recently announced that it has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections – following a business restructuring process that saw it shed $1.7 billion in debt.
1. Staffing shortages
Air Methods found that in 2023, the industry was heavily impacted by a lack of staff for roles such as pilots, healthcare workers, and maintenance technicians. However, the company also recognized that it was ‘not just the medical transportation industry … grappling with these challenges’.
It noted that similar issues were facing the hospitals and health centers as well, with ‘many rural communities’ facing the decision of ‘closing beds or units due to insufficient staffing’ – in some cases including for vital specialty services such as labor and delivery.
Air Methods stated that a ‘critical factor behind the shortage of medical professionals in the air medical industry is the high demand for their services’ – something that will only increase as the population ages and medical emergencies become more frequent.
It was also recognized that the ‘rigorous training and extensive financial investment’ required can ‘put off some individuals from pursuing careers in healthcare’, while the ‘competitive job market’ for the healthcare and aviation sectors makes it hard to attract and retain top talent.
Strict safety and regulatory requirements – such as the need for regular training and certification – also present challenges, adding additional pressure onto an already heavy and potentially stressful workload.
2. Growing demand for specialty transport
Air Methods found that demand for specialty transport is rising, ‘particularly in the fields of pediatrics and cardiovascular care’. This includes the growing use of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), and ‘cardiovascular assist device transports for patients that require specialized interventions like intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABP), impella, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)’.
The company said that this increased demand mirrored a general rise in the number of patients being transported by air in recent years. Several factors underlie this, including:
- The increasing concentration of specialized services in specific hospitals
- Advances in neonatal and pediatric care which make air transport more vital for critically ill children
- Growing awareness of air medical transport as a service among both healthcare providers and the public
- General population growth
- Increased traffic congestion on the ground due to urbanization.
3. The No Surprises Act
The US No Surprises Act went into effect in early 2022, but continued to have an effect on the air medical industry across the US in 2023.
The law – explored in-depth by Robyn Bainbridge in the January 2022 issue of AirMed&Rescue – removes patients from the middle of billing disputes between medical providers and insurers. Now, when an out-of-network company refuses to cover or under-reimburses for an emergency air transport, the air medical provider and insurer can enter an independent dispute resolution (IDR) process to resolve the dispute.
While Air Methods continues to support the law, it noted that ‘the IDR process has been structured to favor insurance companies rather than air providers’, and that ‘these remaining out-of-network health plans have pursued tactics of delaying payment, or underpaying, for critical services’.
Air Methods noted that while 76 per cent of health plans it works with are in-network, it has had to pursue a number of IDR processes for the remaining transports. It added that while ‘we win these cases 87 per cent of the time’, the result is still that payments are typically delayed ‘by months’.
A number of US states are currently looking to impose similar legislation to cover ground transportation, ‘which may result in similar cost pressures’ in the future, it said.