Roughly 3.6 million people miss necessary medical care every year because they can’t get to their appointments. These patients are usually low-income individuals with chronic conditions who live in rural or urban areas.
In an effort to decrease the number of no-show visits, the non-emergency medical transportation industry has found rideshare companies to be helpful partners.
Traditionally, NEMTs contract with taxi companies to provide patients with rides to scheduled doctors appointments. Medicaid and some Medicare Advantage and commercial plans reimburse NEMTs for the rides.
But that model is plagued with inefficiencies, NEMT leaders say. NEMTs don’t have the technology to make sure taxi drivers pick up patients on time and take them to the right place. Patients are often left waiting far too long for their ride and still miss appointments as a result.
NEMT leaders say the rideshare model addresses these issues. These companies increasingly are trying to partner with rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft to provide quicker, more reliable transportation to patients. Rideshare companies offer the needed technology that tracks their drivers and books appointments in real-time.