Several emergency vehicles lined up, some with lights flashing.Arizona uses a Certificate of Necessity process to license ambulance services. This process can be challenging for new applicants because it uses terminology and accounting practices that the person responsible for completing the application may not be familiar with.

To help overcome that problem, our Bureau of EMS and Trauma System has begun posting important documents on the program’s website, and created technical assistance tools to help applicants complete required paperwork.

Each year,

Certificate of Necessity holders must submit documents describing the financial and operational results for the previous 12-month period . These documents are called Ambulance Revenue and Cost Reports, or ARCRs. Until recently, ARCRs were only available through a public records request, but now they can be easily reviewed and downloaded from the Bureau’s website.

Because the application and reporting process for ground ambulance service can be a challenge if you are not familiar with accounting practices, the Bureau also created a step-by-step webinar discussing each of the required components and demonstrating how to correctly fill out the documents. The goal of these efforts is to make the Certificate of Necessity process both easier and more transparent so that the public and the provider can have better access to information.