How NEMTs support existing patient transport services
Providing and arranging reliable, timely and safe transportation for patients is a critical, and often difficult, task for healthcare facilities. A way to lift the burden is to partner with a non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) service to compliment your current transportation situation.
Difficulties in patient transportation culminate in major costs for care providers. A lack of consistent transportation keeps patients from being discharged, resulting in significant costs for care providers unable to free up beds and resources. It can be tremendously expensive to maintain enough vehicles to accommodate all of a facility’s transportation requirements. A driver may call in sick, a vehicle could breakdown or a patient might need a specialized type of care. An NEMT provider can pick up the slack and be the fail-safe needed.
Supporting your existing in-house transportation with medical van transportation can provide cost efficiencies all while maintaining the necessary level of support for a facility’s patients. An NEMT service has the resources, the expertise and the experience to ensure a hassle-free experience for both the patient and the organization. NEMTs can be the complementary solution for healthcare transportation to and from:
- Hospitals
- Outpatient clinics
- Dialysis centers
- Nursing homes
- Doctor’s offices
- Adult day centers
- Assisted living centers
- Cancer treatment facilities
NEMT providers are prepared to customize long-term solutions and support any facility’s current transportation services, whether it’s just a few or hundreds of individuals needing rides.
Solutions for growing healthcare providers’ transportation needs
As a healthcare facility grows, so too will its transportation needs. A growing facility will need to find a transportation solution for the increasing number of rides. This may mean an investment in additional resources such as vehicles and staff or relying on unqualified options like taxis. An investment in these resources, in addition to the growing liabilities and added insurance costs, can put a strain on any care provider’s operations. Procuring, maintaining and operating that level of capital requires an abundance of resources.
Taxis are not trained to handle patients’ special needs, nor do they operate the vehicles certain patients require, such as stretcher and wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Additionally, taxis are single instance solutions: a bandage option for the transportation needs of growing care providers.
An ideal transportation solution for the increasing number of rides is to supplement the current transportation with an NEMT service. This will enable the care provider to devote its resources and focus on healthcare while the NEMT focuses on transportation.
Solutions to driver and vehicle shortages
A common problem any transportation system attempts to cope with is a shortage of resources like drivers and vehicles. The shortages have multiple causes, whether it’s a lack of hired drivers and purchased vehicles or unforeseen incidents like broken-down vehicles or drivers missing work for personal reasons – illness, bereavement, etc.
NEMTs have the flexibility to provide solutions to these problems that regularly occur in transportation services.
NEMT providers have a full fleet of vehicles. Should one break down, there are others ready to replace it. Boasting a fleet stocked with wheelchair-lift-equipped vehicles, stretcher vans, minivans, ambulatory vans and more, NEMTs utilize a variety of vehicles to meet an organization’s volume and each patient’s individual needs.
In addition to a well-stocked fleet of vehicles, NEMTs have a large staff of drivers to pick up the slack should any call out for personal reasons. Many transportation services could see a crippling effect should a driver be unavailable, but NEMTs can manage, adjust and continue normal operations.
Control and coordination efforts
Healthcare facilities often prefer to be in complete control of the transportation process, opting to handle everything in-house. Many care providers do not want the additional steps required to coordinate with a third party, much less relinquish any control. While there are some additional steps in coordination, the effort is well worth the cost efficiencies and professionalism an NEMT service provides.
Coordination between a healthcare facility and an NEMT is designed to be easy, quick and efficient. Each NEMT provider has their unique protocol in the coordination process. When coordinating with Express Medical Transporters, a rate sheet is agreed upon upfront before any services are provided. Transportation is scheduled when a trip request form is completed and submitted detailing the rider, the destination and any additional notes such as: oxygen, stretcher or wheelchair requirements or any situations that need specialized attention. NEMTs need only to be scheduled, from there the service can match and, in many instances, exceed that of in-house transportation services.
With customized services, NEMT providers are prepared to schedule rides 24/7 to accommodate weekends and odd discharge times, handle long-distance rides and provide a ride-along with the patient for a family member.
An NEMT service can support an organization’s existing transportation resources by supplementing non-emergency transit needs. With flexible services, professionalism and expertise, NEMTs might be the solution to any healthcare facility’s non-emergency patient transportation needs.
To learn more about Express Medical Transporters and the benefits we provide, read A complete guide to NEMT services: compassion, costs and qualifications.
A complete guide to NEMT services: compassion, costs and qualifications
In this guide, we arm you with the tools and knowledge to effectively evaluate NEMT providers, services and costs.
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