Reference no: EM133803284
Question
Non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT)-to medical appointments, to urgent care services or home from the hospital-represents a barrier to healthcare for almost 6 million individuals in the USA.
1 Obstacles include cost, accessibility (eg, wheelchair-accessible vehicles), local availability and reliability, which are associated with care delays, worse health outcomes and increased costs.
2 NEMT is an important social determinant of health.
3. Unsurprisingly, transportation barriers are commonly experienced by low-income patients and racial and ethnic minority patients, propagating healthcare inequities.
4. Additionally, NEMT causes suboptimal patient and staff experiences through complex advanced scheduling procedures, long waits and missed appointments.
5. Further, although Medicaid beneficiaries are entitled to NEMT in certain circumstances, options for other patients are limited and heterogeneous at the system level.