How to Improve Your Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Business?
A non-emergency medical transportation business needs to get better every day. Improvement is incremental, with a focus on step gains over time. You must work to help users get to and from medical appointments.
When transporting patients, you want to be efficient, be personal, and make things better every day. The premise of a NEMT service provider is to get you where you need to be when you do not have a means of getting there yourself. Let us take a closer look at how you can improve your NEMT business model.
Push Forward with Technology
One way for a non-emergency medical transportation provider to improve with every transport is to push forward with technology. It was not long ago that all non-emergency medical transportation businesses would come in via phone call. You would call a provider to book the trip. They would then pick you up and take you to your appointment. When running a business, there are better ways to do things.
Software and the public cloud are leading the charge with new options. Folks now all have smartphones in their hands, with the ability to hop on applications. On-demand requests allow someone to request a non-emergency medical transportation service on the spot. That service can then get a notification, pick up the individual, and have software tell them the fastest way.
Services like Tobi are driving this type of practice forward, and it is all with technology at the forefront.
Focus on Being Prompt and Diligent as a Business
If you want to win in the non-emergency medical transportation industry, you need to be prompt. You will not get a call back if you pick up an individual late or get them to their appointment later than they expect.
When you say you are going to pick up an individual, you better be there on time. Being respectful of the time of your customer is critical.
Diligence is also essential. It would be best if you showed you care about what you are doing. Offering a level of care includes the little things such as helping your customer get into the vehicle, talking to them about their day. Dressing the part and being professional also assist in this approach.
Promptness and diligence go a long way to helping you achieve success in the non-emergency medical transportation space.
Behavioral Training Can Help Differentiate
We can all learn to be better with social skills daily. As a non-emergency medical transportation provider, you are a customer-facing organization.
You are sending drivers out to pick up individuals, then transporting them to the destination. These customers will all have different social traits, tendencies, behaviors. Your employees need to know how to work with the various behavioral characteristics they come across. Training in this space can prove helpful.
Versatility is critical in the soft-skill space. When your employees show they have soft skills, it will help them connect with customers. It could be as simple as helping them get through a difficult day or prepare for an appointment they are nervous about. Behavioral training can help your employees get ready for whatever comes their way.
Building Business Partnerships for Growth
It is challenging to grow your business alone. It would help if you had partners along the way that can help you achieve. The non-emergency medical transportation industry presents the need to broker business relationships. It includes relationships in the technology space, vehicle space, and more.
Technology partnerships are critical so that you can stay a step ahead of the competition. Differentiating factors such as software deals can help you offer clients a unique experience. Software such as Tobi Cloud can help customers reach you on-demand.
To help you being prompt in your response, customize your offerings, and reach patients to their destination timely. Brokering partnerships with technology providers can give you the edge to set yourself apart from the competition.
You need partnerships with other businesses, such as in the automobile space. If you do not have vehicles, how do you intend to transport people from one location to the next? Setting up partnerships with the makers of these vehicles can go a long way.
Broker relationships with medical providers are also critical. A patient may have a doctor they need to visit. If they ask the doctor for help in getting to the appointment, and the doctor already has a relationship with your non-emergency medical transportation, you may win that business.
You win business because you have the relationship set up already. It is all about making that initial customer connection and then letting your business sell itself.
Vehicle Maintenance Can Avoid Repairs and Downtime
The last piece of the puzzle for improving your non-emergency medical transportation is to take your vehicle maintenance schedule seriously. It could be easy to assume that users will see you again tomorrow if your vehicles ran great today. It is the wrong way to think about things!
It would help if you got all your vehicles on a regular maintenance schedule. Replacement of oil, checking of brakes, rotation of tires are all mission-critical practices that need execution. Getting your cars on a maintenance schedule can help you avoid the need for costly repairs and any extensive downtime.
Working with a local repair shop can allow your fleet to get the attention it needs. Ignorance of your fleet can lead to extensive repair bills. The last thing you want is to break down the way to getting your customer to their appointment.
Running a non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) business requires incredible attention to detail. You have a lot of levers to pull to improve your business. You need to focus on technology and take advantage of offerings like Tobi and other software providers.
It would be best if you got your vehicles on a regular maintenance schedule. Putting attention to behavioral training for employees will lead to better client relationships. In the end, make your NEMT business better today than it was yesterday; always look for ways to improve!