Three Critical Steps to Ensure Health Plans’ Smooth Transition of Transportation Management Services

Health plans arrange for the non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) of millions of Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid patients every day in the U.S. Managing transport for patients to any health plan-approved destinations on time and smoothly can often mean the difference between wellness and illness — as well as your brand promise. 

For many who manage this program at the health plan, the daily demands of ensuring the patient transportation process should not be complex when using a management service or broker. When teams responsible are becoming increasingly frustrated by high grievance rates, price hikes, lack of communication and collaboration, visibility into performance, and poor member experience, perhaps it’s time for a better option. Many plans postpone a change in transportation management services solely because the process seems too daunting, but it’s actually a seamless process if guided correctly. 

Member health outcomes start with accessibility to care. Switching to a new transportation management vendor can bring much-needed relief to member populations and plan staff managing the programs. Here are few tips to help make the transition easier and improve your processes, deliverables and outcomes of patient transportation at the same time:

1. Needs assessment audit – Conduct a review of your current patient transportation system and identify areas for improvement, challenges and operational inefficiencies. Your potential new transportation service provider should develop a plan for each step, including a timeline, resources, technology migration and risks. The more open you are in this process, the better the transition. Don’t be shy about sharing complex or challenging transportation needs. 
2. Prepare some simple data sets – Gathering eligibility records and current utilization by county for the last year can give your new potential vendor all they need to make an assessment for cost and transition. Include current key performance indicators and what you’d like to improve. 
3. Member and staff communication – Your vendor should focus on training and education of the new process, logistic issues and variation in workflows. Set milestones for each step of the process. Many non-emergency transportation vendors have established robust onboarding processes and are always updating them to achieve best practices. Lean on them to learn how to regularly communicate and achieve the best outcome. Guides and learning tools help each party follow a well-defined process. 

In all my years in the non-emergency medical transportation industry, I find that constantly monitoring and improving your process ensures better patient care outcomes. There is always a way to make it better and reduce grievances. This is not a turn on and let it run by itself endeavor. If you make it a priority, the process improves, and positive outcomes are measurable across the board, and you reduce errors that cause havoc on your health plan brand and partners.

 If you decide to make a switch of medical transportation vendors, use the process to upgrade the deliverables and ensure you made the right choice based on quality performance and outcomes, the same decision tree you would employ for your other partners in the continuum of care. Changing transport services does not have to be difficult. The result will be a real benefit to plan members, their health and your brand.

Photo: metamorworks, Getty Images

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