Building Your Own Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Business

WHAT IS A NON-EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS?

So you’re thinking of going into business for yourself, and you’ve heard that the non-emergency medical transportation business is in demand. You realize that the elderly are living longer and longer, and the sick and disabled will always be with us and in need of quality services to keep them healthy and happy.

But what exactly is non-emergency medical transportation? Is it like emergency medical services where ambulances rush patients from one destination to another? Or is it different? What does it entail, who uses it, and how do you get certified to do it as a business? I can answer all those questions. As I’ve mentioned, I have been in the non-emergency medical transportation business for more than three years, and in business in general my entire life. I have learned a lot of things along the way. This book is my way of sharing with you.

How Does a NEMT Service
Differ From EMS?
In order to explain the non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) business, it is probably best to explain the emergency medical transportation (EMS) business first.

EMS (Emergency Medical Services)
Whenever we think of emergency medical services, we think of EMT’s (emergency medical technicians), and emergency ambulances and fire trucks. That’s because emergency medical services are usually activated during or just after a medical emergency, accident or natural disaster, typically after someone has placed a 911 call.

Depending upon the nature of the emergency, a fire truck, emergency ambulance or even a helicopter may be dispatched to the scene. The entire focus is on patient care. EMT’s who have had hours of intense clinical training, internships and field training, and who are licensed by the state, race to the scene to provide life-saving medicines or techniques, stabilize the patient, and get them to a medical facility as quickly as possible.

Their emergency vehicles are specially equipped with various life support equipment designed to save lives. For example, ambulances transport patients from the scene of an accident or natural disaster to the nearest medical facility equipped to handle the patient’s issue. They are typically equipped with basic life support (BLS) or advanced life support (ALS) equipment like tubing, oxygen tanks, medical kits, defibrillators, blood pressure monitors, stretchers, cervical collars and the like to provide life-saving pre-hospital “out of hospital” care until the patient can be transported to a medical facility.

The patients they transfer may be severely injured, or only mildly injured. Whatever the case, their transportation is considered an emergency, and is treated as such.

NEMT (Non-emergency Medical Transportation

Your non-emergency medical transportation vehicles can transport patients with the same ailments, physical limitations or disabilities as those who are served by an emergency transportation business, including patients with broken legs, high blood sugar or an urgent need to see a doctor. The only difference between your NEMT service and the “emergency” transportation service is that there is no perceived state of emergency at the time of the transport.

NEMT clients are typically the elderly or the mentally or physically disabled. Many are on Medicaid and may be scheduled for any number of tests or appointments, including medical evaluations, a trip to the pharmacy, outpatient surgery or some other scheduled treatment. Because they are entitled to excellent healthcare and are properly insured, they have every right to be transported to and from their destination in a vehicle that can accommodate their physical, emotional and/or medical disabilities.

Of course, not every client is insured. Many uninsured clients still need non-emergency transportation and have every right to use a NEMT service to get where they need to go. The only difference is that they would pay for their transportation out-of-pocket.

Since ambulances are designated as emergency transport vehicles, these clients would not need an ambulance. They would simply need the services of a non-emergency medical transport vehicle. However, keep in mind that at some time or other, you will have patients that cannot sit or stand. These patients can be transported on the same type of stretcher used by EMS personnel.

In some states, you will be able to use an ambulette to transport these clients. An ambulette is just like a regular mobility vehicle, only it is equipped with stretcher capability. You could also use a non-emergency ambulance, which has all the settings of an emergency ambulance but is used for non-emergencies.

Whichever type is used, if it is a non-emergency situation, this is where your business comes in.