The Dos and Don'ts of Managing a Transportation Benefit.

Whether you are planning on introducing a transportation benefit in 2020 or currently offering one today, it is important to understand your specific goals, expectations, and success metrics. From our work simplifying medical transport for health plans, we have identified some key best practices (and things to avoid) that will maximize the success of your transportation program.

✔ Do: CLEARLY DEFINE YOUR ORGANIZATION’S GOALS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA AROUND TRANSPORTATION

• Whether you are introducing transportation to your members to enrich the member experience, offer a differentiated product, or to minimize downstream health costs, understanding your plan’s goals will allow you to build a customized program around those goals.

✘ Don’t: LAUNCH A TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT WITHOUT HAVING CLEARLY-DEFINED SUCCESS METRICS

• Defining success metrics around network performance (on-time rides, no-show rates, vehicle utilization, etc.) and outcomes (cost per ride, ride ratings, etc.) will enable you to measure and optimize your transportation program for efficiency and cost savings.

✔ Do: CONSIDER PROVING A CUSTOMIZED TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT STRUCTURE TO YOUR POPULATION

• Analyzing your population’s needs and creating customized benefits by treatment type (with restrictions on volume, per-ride distance, and allowable facilities) creates a more personalized - and less costly - benefit.

✘ Don’t: OFFER JUST ONE TRANSPORTATION MODE AND/OR SERVICE LEVEL

• A one-size-fits-all approach typically does not reflect a typical population’s needs. Instead, consider offering multiple modes (sedans, stretcher vans, wheelchair vans, gurneys, etc.) and service levels (curb-to-curb, door-to-door, door-through-door, etc.) so that each member’s unique transportation needs can be met.

✔ Do: ENSURE THAT YOUR BENEFIT IS ACCESSIBLE TO MEMBERS

• Members will need to be made aware of and educated on how to best utilize their new benefit. Additionally, some members may prefer to book rides themselves over the phone, via a smartphone mobile app, or on the web. Make sure that you reduce barriers to care by providing multiple options for ride booking.

✘ Don’t: CREATE BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PROVIDERS, DRIVERS, AND MEMBERS

• Ensure that care providers, drivers, and members are all able to communicate with one another regarding ride statuses. The impacts of unexpected variables such as traffic, last-minute reschedules, and weather events can be mitigated if there is a seamless way for information to pass between all parties in real-time.

✔ Do: MANAGE ADHERENCE TO COMPLIANCE LEVELS

• When offering transportation to your members, you need a system that ensures the pick-up/drop-off locations, distance, and transport mode are compliant for each ride. Additionally, your transportation partner should systematically monitor and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse that can typically lead to exorbitant costs. 

At SafeRide Health, we empower health plans to offer unique and innovative medical transportation benefits for their members. Contact us today to learn more about we can work with you to transform your member experience.