Understanding the National Picture: Using Ground Ambulance Services Data to Inform Policy

April 20, 2026

2:00 pm –

2:50 pm

Meeting Room 109-110

Tracks: Hot Topics

Data Panel with Zach Gaumer, Andrew Mulchahy, Asbel Montes. Reliable, comprehensive data is essential to understanding the role and impact of ground ambulance services within the broader healthcare system. This 50-minute panel convenes national industry experts and data analysts to examine the current landscape of ground ambulance services data at a national level and its implications for policy development and decision-making.

Panelists will explore how national datasets are developed and interpreted, what they reveal about access, utilization, costs, and outcomes, and where important limitations and gaps remain. The discussion will highlight how policymakers, regulators, and stakeholders can responsibly use data to shape legislation, reimbursement models, and system-wide reforms, while avoiding misinterpretation or overgeneralization.

Speakers:

Katie Arens
Vice President of Customer Access
Life EMS Ambulance

Katie Arens serves as the Vice President of Customer Access at Life EMS Ambulance in Grand Rapids, MI where she oversees the Billing Department, Mobile Health Solutions, and Control Center/Dispatch operations. Katie has over fifteen years’ experience in healthcare revenue cycle management. Her experience and expertise encompasses billing and coding, system compliance and performance, and RCM process innovation and execution. She received her Bachelors of Science in Healthcare Administration from...

Asbel Montes
Managing Partner
Solutions Group Services

Asbel Montes is a national leader in revenue cycle management, healthcare reimbursement, and EMS payment policy. As Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Solutions Group Services, he helps healthcare organizations uncover hidden revenue and remove operational friction through AI-powered audit, automation, and discovery technologies. With decades of experience in the EMS and healthcare finance sectors, Asbel is recognized for his expertise in navigating regulatory environments, improving financial sustainability, and...

Zach Gaumer
Managing Principal
Health Management Associates

Zach Gaumer is an accomplished policy analyst and project manager with nearly 20 years of health policy experience. He possesses a deep understanding of Medicare, healthcare payment systems, federal and state policymaking, healthcare datasets, research methods and policy reform efforts. Zach is a skilled researcher with a passion for answering complicated payment policy questions. Prior to joining HMA, Zach was a principal policy analyst at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)....

Andrew Mulcahy
Senior Health Economist
RAND

Andrew Mulcahy is a senior health economist at RAND whose research focuses on prescription drugs, payment for health care services, and health policy evaluation, drawing on large-scale Medicare and other data sources. His work spans topics like Medicare payment systems, insurance benefit design, and analyses of the U.S. blood system and ground ambulance industry, with a broader emphasis on value in health care and incentives for innovation.