Better Lives with Care.Wallet: Non-Emergency Transportation Barriers in US

Each year, 3.6 million people in the United States do not obtain medical care due to transportation issues. Transportation issues include lack of vehicle access, inadequate infrastructure, long distances and lengthy times to reach needed services, transportation costs, and adverse policies that affect travel. Transportation challenges affect rural and urban communities alike. In 25 separate studies, up to 50% of patients reported that transportation was a barrier to health care access, being one of the leading factors to missing appointments.

Because they can’t get non-emergency transportation, many patients reschedule or miss appointments, which delays proper care, and often leads to patients not taking their medicine. As a result, it often happens that people do a poorer job managing chronic illnesses, like heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, etc. and face chance of experiencing worsening health.

Solve Care’s Care.Wallet can help significantly reduce missed appointments and even cut the need for visits in the first place, by improving care coordination and disease management. The Transportation Solution in Care.Wallet would make it simple for anyone to get to the doctor’s. Even family members and providers in a sponsored Care Network can pay for and coordinate patient rides to an appointment.

One of the beauties of the Solve.Care Platform is that everything is transparent and automatically synced, with no need for manual verification or phone calls. Connecting healthcare providers and transportation services are connected leads to creative solutions that reduce transportation barriers to healthcare access, while considering patient health, cost, and efficiency.

When a ride to an appointment is scheduled through Care.Wallet, patients are notified with vehicle and driver information; they know exactly when the car will arrive. Family members can also be notified of upcoming appointments and assured that their loved ones arrive safely and get the care they need.

Implementing these solutions, and others like them will help create a health system that’s more accessible and efficient for people wherever they may live.

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