Reimbursement patterns in a hospital-based fixed-wing aeromedical service

Reimbursement, expressed as a percentage of total charges recovered, was examined for inpatients transported by a university hospital-based, dedicated, fixed-wing aeromedical service between July 1, 1988 and June 30, 1990. A total of 410 patients were transported; account information was available for 404 patients (98%). Patients transported from in-state institutions (n = 174) had a hospital reimbursement rate of 53.3%, whereas the flight program recovered 46.1% of transportation charges. Patients transported from out-of-state institutions (n = 150) had a hospital reimbursement rate of 51.3%, whereas the flight program recovered 69.3% of charges. More patients referred from in-state sources were covered by Medicaid than from out-of-state sources (31% vs 11%), and less were covered by Medicare (17% vs 30%). Reimbursement for hospital charges was low for patients covered by Medicaid (44% for in-state and 16% for out-of-state), and Medicaid reimbursed no flight charges for either in-state or out-of-state patients. The flight program recovered 86.7% of charges for "triangle" flights, which transported patients between two hospitals other than the sponsoring institution (n = 80). The overall hospital reimbursement rate for inpatients was 70% during the study period. The flight program recovered 53.7% of its operating costs from payment of charges for transport services. Aeromedically transported patients may represent a financial "high-risk" group of patients for the sponsoring institution.