Acadian Ambulance Service, Inc.

First accredited in July 1995, Acadian carries the CAAS logo with pride.

Acadian Ambulance Service

Key Statistics
Type of Agency: Private
Number of medical transports for preceding 12-month period was: 291,922
Estimated population of total area served: 3.4 million
CAAS Coordinator: Bill Vidacovich

Location
Mail: P.O. Box 98000 (zip 70509)
130 East Kaliste Saloom Road
Lafayette, LA 70508
PH: (800) 259-3333
PH: (337) 291-3333
FX: (337) 291-2211
www.Acadian.com

CAAS Q&A - July 2006

Q. What are the most important improvements your agency has made in the past year?

Several noteworthy changes have taken place since CAAS last visited our company.

Acadian continues in our, thus far successful, effort toward diversification of the ambulance service as a whole by capitalizing on our core competencies like selecting, training, and deploying professional people and giving them an enormous amount of support to succeed.

A large part of this diversification has been through the successful efforts of Acadian Integrated Solutions (AIS).  AIS has migrated away from our traditional offshore medical services to more of a health, safety, and environmental company.  In terms of Acadian employees, that transition has permitted alternative career opportunities to the EMTs and paramedics that work in ground and offshore operations.   Our medical staff has always been on the “reactive” side of the safety spectrum, putting their skills to work when something has already happened.   The HSE opportunities allow them to be involved in the “proactive’ side of the spectrum where their newly acquired skills are applied toward prevention.  The ability to diversify the skill sets of the medical staff has been made possible through purchase of the Training Center in Maurice, LA.   Our paramedics are provided career path opportunities to obtain HSE knowledge which makes them more marketable, greatly enhances their pay, and opens the door to other career choices should they so choose.   

Acadian has also effectively trained all paramedics in SCT practices, effectively eliminating the need to separate such calls through EMD screening.
Disaster planning has been taken to new levels due to the experience gained in dealing with two devastating hurricanes.

Strategic planning continues each year, with emphasis being placed on five corporate goals for this year. These goals, in whole or in part, lie at the heart of each of the departmental goals. Employees, in turn, take ownership of “their” departmental goals through an awareness of the importance of their contribution toward the success of those goals and ultimately the corporate goals

The Patient Account Center is now annually conducting six mandatory workshops, in addition to regular staffing meetings. 

Q. What financial benefits have you seen to accrediting with CAAS?

Introspection almost always produces a better “you”.  The CAAS accreditation process has been one of the basis for change. This change has further enabled collaboration, process improvement, esprit de corps and has resulted in the overall betterment of our company and better bottom line financials.

Q. Has accreditation led to a decrease in employee turnover either at the lower levels or management levels?

There is no specific measurement that would point directly to CAAS as being the catalyst of improved employee longevity.  However, employee retention continues to rise, and we are sure that the positive trends are in part due to the overall efforts, CAAS included.

Q. Aside from turnover, have your employees noted other improvements in their work as a result of accreditation?

Accreditation has enabled us to further streamline a number of our policies and procedures, which ultimately led to improvements in patient care.  As our company went through the initial accreditation process, it caused employees and management to focus on methodologies, on common practice, as well as on outcomes.  New initiatives, designed to better previous efforts, continue to move the collective work effort to improved levels.

Q. Do you feel you provide better patient care as an accredited agency and in what areas? (e.g., asthma, trauma, chest pain) What aspects of accreditation led to these clinical improvements?

I am confident that being an accredited agency has made us a stronger organization and has contributed to providing better patient care.  The Clinical Standards Quality Improvement has led to improved sharing of data with our medical staff and has translated into improved scene times for our trauma and chest pain patients presenting with STEMI.

Q. What other benefits has management noted following accreditation?

Our biggest benefit would be that it requires us to put policies and procedures in writing, which enables us to effectively communicate them to our employees, as well as review them regularly to assess their significance.    It is a tremendous marketing tool for existing and expansion areas.  It also enhances our awareness to continuously provide the highest standards of service for our patients.

Acadian In Action

Air Med responds to an all-terrain vehicle accident, assisting the ground medics with medical transportation.	Acadian Ambulance medics load a MVA patient into Air Med for medical transportation.
Acadian Ambulance medics are honored by Senator Mike Michot for their heroic actions in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita at the Baton Rouge State Capitol.	Acadian Ambulance medics use the latest technology to treat a cardiac patient.
Air Med meets Acadian Ambulance medics and hospital staff at the hospital helipad for a patient transport.	Acadian Ambulance medics use the latest technology to treat a cardiac patient.