I found this part of Angela Keninvestigate’s Stormland TV story about Paramedics Plus interesting;
Paramedics Plus did put in its own dispatch system for Metro Communications called PULSE and two Metro Communications workers were flown to Tyler, Texas for training on the system. The City and Metro Communications tells KELOLAND News it does not know how much Paramedics Plus paid for the PULSE system that came at no expense to the City or Metro Communications. Paramedics Plus will not tell us how much the PULSE system cost.
However, we did find in REMSA’s annual report to the City that the software system is valued at more than $150,000.Â
At the time it got the City Contract, Paramedics Plus told the City it was making a $1.7 million dollar investment into the REMSA System in Sioux Falls. The U.S. Attorney in Texas who filed the suit says it’s against the law to pay kickbacks in order to gain access to Medicare and Medicaid funds.
Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston says, “Kickback schemes are anti-competitive, undermine the integrity of our nation’s health care programs, and wrongly prioritize profits over patient care.”
When Paramedics Plus was being vetted by the city, we found several conflict of interests with PP and the advisory company hired to vet a new ambulance provider. Not sure what a bribe or kickback looks like, but I would think promising a $150K to $1.7 million dollar investment into the system a little murky.
As you can see PULSE is very sensitive and high tech, so why isn’t our elected officials getting these reports?
http://urgentcomm.com/dispatch/genesis-company-enters-911-arena-pulse-solution
Did they get to deduct their stated costs of $1.7000,000 on their taxes? Or just the $150K?
Good question Jeff. The best penalty here could be an IRS audit.
As I remember, the entire process of switching to PP was shady and appeared to be a ramrod decision.