While the US is laser-focused on its growing healthcare needs for its population, a core component of this industry is often overlooked: the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation market.
Quite simply, as industry leader Miguel McInnis, president and CEO of leading NEMT solution provider Coordinated Transportation Solutions (CTS) shared in a recent brief:
The mission of the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) market is simple: We put people in seats and move them around…It plays a key role in connecting people with care. – Miguel McInnis, President and CEO, Coordinated Transportation Solutions.
The fact facing the medical industry is that patients need reliable transportation to get to health services. This fact is underscored by a recent industry survey, which projects the NEMT marketplace size of 11.8 billion dollars in 2025, and poised to grow to 17.99 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.81%.
While the business of medicine, indeed doctors themselves, along with patients and their larger communities, may not fully understand how critical NEMT services can be, the impact is quite clear: if a patient doesn’t have the ability to get to a doctor’s appointment, a therapy treatment session or other medical service, they often have to forego treatment. NEMT services are critical to the healthcare business, and to the patients they transport.
To underscore the importance of this issue, McInnis’ company, CTS shared four key principles of healthcare access – and ways in which the healthcare business community can better support patient needs and access to health services:
Key Point One: Creating Comfort and Community
Providing true access to care is more than offering a ride—it is the ability to accommodate people in different situations, so they always feel comfortable during the trip regardless of age, ability, weight, or other factors. This increases access to care because when people do not feel comfortable during their trips to the doctor, they will simply avoid them.
Key Point Two: Clarifying the Impact of Cuts
Budget cuts to Medicaid and other programs are likely to impact individuals’ access to care due to more stringent eligibility requirements. As more individuals no longer qualify for transportation benefits from Medicaid, states will bear more of that pressure and their costs are going to expand. This will particularly have impact on those in states that have balanced budget requirements in their constitution. Those with health benefits but no access to transportation will still be at risk for not getting the health care they need.
Key Point Three: Combating Counterfeit Claims
The NEMT industry has the data to identify where the system could be taken advantage of. This allows providers to identify program benefits which are better and more equitable for everyone, while eliminating opportunities for waste or financial abuse.
Key Point Four: Changing the Access Conversation
NEMT providers can lead the conversation about healthcare access because of the distinct role the industry plays. NEMT providers see access issues play out every day and understand the social determinants of health that come into play. By changing the access conversation, industry can discover more proactive and creative ways to ensure everyone gets access to the care they deserve.
To learn more about how Coordinated Transportation Solutions is helping healthcare industry leaders deliver healthcare access to their community, please visit: https://www.ctstransit.com/
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
