What is Call Jumping?
In the health care industry, the term “call jumping” is used to refer to private ambulance services which muscle their way into emergency calls with the hopes of snagging customers. In a sense, they are literally jumping on calls for ambulances and emergency medical assistance. This practice is frowned upon in many areas, but it persists, especially in the United States, where health care costs are extremely high and many community ambulance services are stressed and overstretched, making it easy for private competitors to operate. Call jumping can work in a number of ways. Typically it involves a private, for-profit ambulance service. An employee of the service may listen to police scanners to gather information about accidents and other situations when an ambulance might be called for, and then dispatch an ambulance to the site in the hopes of beating the hospital or community ambulance. Call jumping can also occur in emergency rooms, with staff fighting with the official ambulance s
