Hello!
I always wonder what goes on in those wood-paneled board rooms.
Anyway, our program was hospital based for 7 years before we became
freestanding. Our policy was always to take patients where they or the
referring physician wanted them to go (Trauma center stuff notwithstanding).
I don't know what kind of competition you have with other air medical
programs in your area, but a decree by your hospital to only take patients
back to them may open a PR angle for the other programs. They can tell
provider and referral agencies that they will take patients anywhere, not
just to hospital X like the "other" program. You may see a decrease in calls
as referral facilities who may have called you for everything will call
someone else if the patient is not going to your hospital.
Bottom line, I don't think it is in any program's best interest to
institute such a policy. I believe successful programs express the attitude
of "Thanks for calling, how can we help you?" Limiting the customers' choices
may be counter productive to this.
