Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA
Healthcare Innovation Lab, BJC HealthCare, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
BMJ Health Care Inform. 2021 Sep;28(1). doi: 10.1136/bmjhci-2021-100417.
To implement a unified non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) service across a large integrated healthcare delivery network.
We assessed needs among key organisational stakeholders, then reviewed proposals. We selected a single NEMT vendor best aligned with organisational priorities and implemented this solution system-wide.
Our vendor's hybrid approach combined rideshares with contracted vehicles able to serve patients with equipment and other needs. After 6195 rides in the first year, we observed shorter wait times and lower costs compared with our prior state.
Essential lessons included (1) understanding user and patient needs, (2) obtaining complete, accurate and comprehensive baseline data and (3) adapting existing workflows-rather than designing de novo-whenever possible.
Our implementation of a single-vendor NEMT solution validates the need for NEMT at large healthcare organisations, geographical challenges to establishing NEMT organisation-wide, and the importance of baseline data and stakeholder engagement.
在大型综合医疗服务网络中实施统一的非紧急医疗转运（NEMT）服务。
我们评估了主要组织利益相关者的需求，然后审查了提案。我们选择了与组织优先事项最匹配的单一 NEMT 供应商，并在全系统范围内实施了这一解决方案。
我们的供应商的混合方法将拼车服务与能够为有设备和其他需求的患者提供服务的合同车辆相结合。在第一年的 6195 次乘车后，与我们之前的状态相比，我们观察到等待时间更短，成本更低。
重要经验教训包括（1）了解用户和患者的需求，（2）获取完整、准确和全面的基线数据，以及（3）尽可能适应现有工作流程，而不是从头开始设计。
我们实施单一供应商 NEMT 解决方案的情况验证了大型医疗机构对 NEMT 的需求、在全范围建立 NEMT 组织所面临的地理挑战，以及基线数据和利益相关者参与的重要性。
