In a previous article, we explored how NEMT is a critical way of keeping rural communities from being left behind by bridging gaps in transportation availability and more. We also explored how it’s key in helping ensure better health outcomes for members of these communities. Since then, we’ve wanted to keep looking into how else the right services and transportation dispatch software can help.
Non-emergency medical transportation, in all forms, isn’t just about getting people where they need to go and ensuring they just meet their medical needs. As our industry evolves, we’re finding ways to better serve the people who rely on us, whether it’s for home care, specialist appointments, day programs, and more. This is even more important for rural communities that often go overlooked.
NEMT’s Ways of Going Above and Beyond
Easily-Accessible Rural-to-Urban Transport
While this has similarities to a point we made in our previous article, the extra mile here is the urban focus. In an article from Becker’s Hospital Review, they identified that one of the ways to “save rural healthcare” was to have rural hospitals partner with urban hospitals to increase the offerings available to people living out in the country. We propose that this goes further by having a rural hospital also partner with an urban transport provider, perhaps a broker due to the versatility of their options. Depending on the company, this partnership could also give rural communities access to the rider-facing portal of transportation dispatch software, giving community members the power to set their own schedules and providing them with a deeper sense of autonomy.
Direct Transport for Prescriptions
Along the same lines of ease of care as a means of improving health outcomes, prescription delivery is another key quality-of-life improvement that NEMT could be instrumental in enabling. For so many people prescriptions are the baseline of how they keep going with a healthy life, removing travel barriers and delivering directly helps rural communities get what they need while also improving their overall experience with healthcare. Even something as simple as filling a prescription goes from being an errand to being a convenient service. This is how you raise the bar.
What Do You Think?
Has your company started exploring ways to better serve rural areas? Or have you already found something that has helped change the way a smaller community experiences healthcare, big or small? We’d love to hear from you. Knowledge-share is how we bring NEMT ever-forward. If you’re not sure where to start, contact us and we’d be happy to help.
