Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) can play a role in lowering a nagging problem in U.S. healthcare – the high rate of readmission following discharge from hospitals. Hospital discharge planners can always partner with NEMT logistics companies like True to Care to ensure that patients have rides to all necessary follow-up appointments in the 30 days following discharge, potentially keeping them healthier and reducing readmission rates.
Many patients have resumed seeing their doctors face-to-face in office visits after Covid-19 pandemic. Some studies suggest that some other patients appreciate the convenience of telemedicine, so the technology of routine appointments conducted over video conferencing or simply by phone instead of in-person is likely here to stay in some capacity. Nevertheless, those patients still have to travel from their home through town, picking up medicines from pharmacy or whatever they need to do each day. If our customers need transportation to multiple locations on the same day, we offer 15 minutes free of charge waiting time. After 15 minutes there will be a fee applied for the waiting, which will be discussed ahead of time.
To make things more relevant, this NCBI article notes that, “According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, there is a strong relationship between family income and physical activity with low-income families being the most sedentary.” There are several reasons for this: taking a long walk or jog around the neighborhood may not be safe or the weather may not fit for that, the nearest fitness center may be miles away, or families may not have the funds to pay for access to a fitness center. Non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) is a Medicaid benefit that covers travel to medical appointments but you should consider that private insurance, including some Medicare Advantage plans, also may cover non-emergency medical transit – you should check that with your provider. Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) has the potential to shrink the exercise gap by providing transportation to a gym for regular workouts.
