If you have never booked non-emergency medical transport before, the whole thing can feel opaque — you are handing someone you have not met responsibility for getting a person you care about to an appointment that matters. Here is what actually happens, start to finish.
When the ride is booked we ask for a few things that genuinely change how the trip goes: whether the patient can walk a few steps or needs to stay in a wheelchair or on a stretcher, whether they use oxygen, whether stairs are involved at either end, and whether somebody will be riding along. None of it is paperwork for its own sake. The answers decide which vehicle we send and how many crew members come with it.
If the appointment is a round trip, say so when you book. We would rather hold the return than have somebody waiting in a lobby wondering whether anyone is coming.
The crew arrives in a marked Priority Patient Transport vehicle and will be in uniform with identification. They will confirm the patient's name and date of birth before anything else — not to be difficult, but because it is the one check that catches a mix-up before it becomes one.
Have ready: the appointment time and address, an insurance card if the trip is being billed to insurance, a list of current medications, and any mobility equipment that needs to travel. If a caregiver is coming, let the crew know at the door so they can plan seating.
We aim to arrive ahead of the pickup window so there is margin, and we build in time at the other end for getting inside and checked in. A short local transfer is usually an hour door to door. A longer one across the Valley can be two or three. If we are running late you will hear from us rather than finding out by waiting.
That depends on who is paying. Many trips are covered by Medicaid, Medicare or a commercial plan; some are billed to the facility arranging them; some are private pay. We will tell you which applies before the trip rather than after it. Our billing page goes through this in more detail.
Call dispatch on (888) 774-2621. It is answered around the clock by someone who can actually see where the vehicle is and reach the crew directly.
