Computer-aided dispatch (CAD) in NEMT: what the software assigns, tracks, and records for each trip

What does computer-aided dispatch do in NEMT?

Computer-aided dispatch does four jobs: it assigns trips, tracks vehicles, tells drivers what to do, and records what happened. It is the dispatch layer of NEMT software, and it works from the trip data a broker, facility, or rider provides.

• Assigns. It matches each trip to a vehicle and driver that fit the time and the service level. The trip data it works from is the manifest. MTM Health’s Virginia handbook says its manifests are meant to carry everything needed to perform a trip safely at the authorized level of service and assistance, and that they reach a provider’s routing software through an API.
• Tracks. It shows each vehicle’s position and each trip’s status, so dispatch can see a late pickup before the clinic calls. The dispatch workflow guide shows where that fits in the day.
• Instructs. It sends the run to the driver’s device, with the trip details the driver needs.
• Records. It stamps the time of each arrival, pickup, and drop-off and keeps the location trail. This record becomes the trip log.

What do brokers and states call it?

Broker manuals use their own names. MTM Health’s Rhode Island handbook calls the category “Routing, Scheduling, and Dispatching” software, shortened to RSD. New York’s Medicaid transportation manual lists “Third-Party Intermediary” and “Advanced Transportation Management Systems” software for billing or routing.

Both tie the software to the broker’s record rules. The Rhode Island handbook says the MTM driver app and approved routing software meet trip log requirements by providing electronic trip logs and trip tracking, with trip details and member signatures syncing to the broker portal. It still tells drivers to keep paper trip logs as a backup.

What do brokers expect a dispatch system to record?

Brokers expect a time and a place for every trip event, kept for the whole ride. MTM Health’s Virginia handbook requires location tracking to run for the full ride so arrivals, pickups, transport progress, and drop-offs are captured, and it scores providers on the share of trips tracked digitally. New York’s Medicaid manual requires each trip’s start point, end point, and every coordinate along the way, which it calls breadcrumb data. The scores and audits brokers run are only as good as what the dispatch system recorded. The telematics guide compares what each broker and state requires, and NEMT quality assurance covers the audit measures.

How is it different from a spreadsheet, route optimization, or a driver app?

Computer-aided dispatch is the live layer on top of a trip list. The tools next to it do narrower jobs:

• Spreadsheet. It lists trips. It does not know where a van is or what state a trip is in.
• Route optimization. It proposes the order of stops. CAD is where dispatch accepts, changes, or overrides that plan. The route optimization guide covers how plans are built.
• Driver app. It is the phone side: the run, navigation, signatures, and location. MTM Health’s driver app is one way to meet its AVL requirement.
• EVV. It is a separate federal requirement for personal care and home health visits, covered in the EVV guide.

What should you ask before choosing a system?

Ask these five questions of any vendor:

1. Does it take manifests from my brokers directly? MTM Health lists more than 20 integrations, so ask whether yours is on the list for each broker you serve.
2. Does location tracking run for the whole ride, and can the data reach the broker inside its time limit?
3. Does it keep the time stamps, signatures, and location trail a trip log needs, and export them?
4. Does the driver see only the fields the trip needs?
5. What happens when the driver loses signal, and when does the data sync?

Dispatching in HealthRide

On HealthRide’s dispatch board you assign a trip in one motion. The live map shows every vehicle, live, on one map.