The non emergency medical transport benefit offered by Medicaid plans is an area of healthcare where large companies have dominated, such as MTM (Medical Transportation Management). But several technology businesses believe this area is ripe for disruption to improve efficiency and reliability in an effort to help health plans minimize missed appointments, which can lead to costly hospitalizations.

Federal regulations require that state Medicaid programs make nonemergency medical transportation available to beneficiaries.

High profile businesses such as Uber and Lyft are trying to make, ahem, inroads into this field but so are other companies such as RoundTrip and Veyo, which is a spinoff of Phoenix-based fleet operator Total Transit. Veyo just marked its first anniversary and sees plenty of opportunities for national expansion.

At the New York eHealth Collaborative Digital Health Conference this week, Veyo President Josh Komenda shared the San Diego-based healthcare logistics company’s progress in an interview with MedCity News.

The company uses a virtual, scalable fleet of independent drivers as well as commercial providers, with the specialized equipment to accomodate wheelchair-bound patients. Komenda said the company reviews vehicles for safety issues. It also runs background checks on drivers and trains them so that they are compliant with regulations set down by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

To date, the company has a presence in six states: California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, and Texas. Although the traditional model has been for patients to contact these services through a call center, Veyo also offers an app that helps patients to contact their fleet directly.

Komenda noted that Medicaid spending on non emergency transport for members runs up to $5 billion per year. From the standpoint of Veyo and other companies seeking to build a name in nonemergency medical transport, the oversight has not been what it could be, ratcheting up costs needlessly due to waste, fraud and abuse.

A pretty big part of the patient population that rely on Veyo’s services are not necessarily elderly patients. About 30 to 50 percent are dialysis patients, Komenda said. If they miss an appointment, the consequences could be severe. They could end up in the emergency room at a hefty cost.

Looking ahead to 2017 when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the new environment means the pressure is on for companies like Veyo to prove their value. Komenda said the company can offer plans performance data. “We have raised our on-time rate and reduced the grievance rate.” He also said that the company has saved health plans $7 million.

Although many of the states where Veyo has a presence have substantial rural communities, the company also sees opportunities in metropolitan areas.  The company helps Medicaid patients access public transportation.

Komenda noted that six to eight states are currently offering requests for proposals for contracts for non emergency medical transportation and Veyo plans to pursue some of them. Those states include Indiana, Mississippi, Virginia, and Connecticut. Georgia and South Carolina could soon offer RFPs as well.

By STEPHANIE BAUM

December 7, 2016 – The original article can be found here.