GOBHI Transportation Services provider guide: OHP rides in eastern Oregon

GOBHI in brief

GOBHI is Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc., headquartered at 412 Washington Street in The Dalles. It holds the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) ride benefit in eastern Oregon through two arrangements. Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization (EOCCO) has delegated non-emergent medical transportation for its members to GOBHI, and GOBHI also holds a contract with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) covering open card, or fee-for-service, members. OHA’s member materials call the service GOBHI Transportation Services.

Rides come from a mix of sources: volunteer drivers, rural public transit, private nonprofit carriers, and for-profit transportation companies. Vehicles range from cars, SUVs, and vans to wheelchair vans, stretcher vehicles, and non-emergent ambulances. Distances are long. GOBHI reports 6,067,865 program miles in 2024, and it is not accepting volunteer driver applications at present.

Where GOBHI runs rides

Which ride service books a trip depends on both the member’s county and plan.

One change already has a date. OHA’s notice, updated August 7, 2026, says federal changes move every Healthier Oregon member from CCOs to open card in January 2027, and GOBHI’s member page says some riders move from EOCCO to open card on January 1, 2027. In the 11 counties where GOBHI handles both groups, those riders stay with GOBHI. Lake County is different: open card trips there go through TransLink under today’s assignments, so Lake County riders who move would book with TransLink. The Oregon state guide shows which ride service covers each CCO and county.

Joining GOBHI’s network

The first step is an email to nemtcredentialing@gobhi.org. GOBHI’s manual says trips are matched to the area and hours you commit to cover, your vehicles, the level of service you offer, your rates, and your performance. No contracted company is guaranteed a minimum volume, so a precise offer counts.

1. Email credentialing. Name the counties and hours you will serve, your vehicle types (sedan, wheelchair, stretcher), and whether you take weekend and after-hours rides. Ask for the provider agreement and the insurance limits it sets.
2. Hand over licenses and insurance up front. GOBHI asks for copies of every local, state, and federal license and certification before service starts, and new copies at each renewal. Proof of insurance is due at the start, at each renewal, and whenever a policy changes. During a lapse, GOBHI stops offering trips and pulls any already scheduled inside the uninsured period.
3. Carry workers’ compensation for employees. Under OAR 410-136-3060, open card brokerages must require it from every subcontractor with workers, unless an exemption under ORS 656.126(2) applies. The workers’ comp guide explains the coverage.
4. Get drivers and vehicles credentialed. No trip is billable until its driver clears credentialing. The documents are listed in the next section.
5. Propose rates. GOBHI’s Rate Request and Approval Form uses a base rate plus mileage. It has lines for a charge that covers an initial block of miles, a rate for each mile after that, and add-ons for weekends, after hours, and shared rides.
6. Put the expected policies in writing. The manual calls for policies on theft, violence, and gross negligence; harassment; emergencies and collision investigation; and adverse weather, continuity of operations, and disaster recovery. It also expects you to report conflicts of interest, have each driver sign GOBHI’s code of conduct, and keep a plan for regular, documented driver performance reviews.

The broker credentialing guide walks through the general process, and a driver file checklist holds each driver’s documents together.

Driver and vehicle credentialing

EOCCO trips fall under the CCO rule, OAR 410-141-3925, and open card trips under OAR 410-136-3040. GOBHI’s own credentialing list asks for more than either rule.

Three details catch new companies out:

• Course timing. The CCO rule gives drivers three months after hire for defensive driving and Passenger Service and Safety, and the open card rule gives six. GOBHI wants both done before credentialing, so schedule them while hiring. A driver who only drives sedans can take the ambulatory version of PASS; wheelchair van drivers add the securement module.
• Licenses from other states. OAR 410-136-3040 requires an Oregon DMV-issued license for open card trips. Check with GOBHI before a driver licensed elsewhere takes those rides.
• Disclosures. Under the CCO rule, each driver must tell you if they have broken a state drug law and share their driving history, traffic violations included.

Vehicles need current registration and insurance with no gap, plus a yearly inspection. The manual adds:

• Proof of a yearly safety inspection from an ASE-certified mechanic
• ADA compliance certification from the last 12 months for each wheelchair-accessible vehicle
• Incident report forms and proof of insurance (an insurance card or ACORD certificate) kept in the vehicle
• The equipment the state rule lists, plus a seat belt extender, seat belt cutter, jack, spare tire or tire repair kit, bloodborne pathogen spill kit, non-latex gloves, and gear for the season
• Maintenance at least as often as the manufacturer recommends; after any damage, the vehicle stays off member trips until an ASE-certified mechanic has assessed it
• A fire extinguisher suited to the vehicle, looked over monthly if possible and never less than yearly

GOBHI strongly recommends dash cameras facing both inward and outward, and it may request footage when looking into a complaint. The dash camera guide covers setup. The rider’s guide also tells members the vehicle will have a hands-free phone or tablet. Ambulances licensed under ORS chapter 682 are exempt from these driver and vehicle provisions.

How GOBHI assigns and changes trips

GOBHI shops each ride through its scheduling software to find the most appropriate, cost-effective provider. From there, the manual sets these rules.

• Respond to offers promptly. Accept or turn down assignments quickly. Requests for today or tomorrow may come with a much tighter deadline.
• Give back trips early. GOBHI needs 72 hours’ notice or more before an accepted trip you can no longer cover. A trip you accept inside 72 hours of pickup is yours to run.
• Have a valid reason. Acceptable ones include a ride outside your area or hours, not having the vehicle type needed, a van in the shop, driver schedule limits, weather, safety concerns, legal action by the member against you (pending or past), and cultural or religious holidays. GOBHI does not accept taking only the highest-paying trips, a habit of last-minute returns, or backing out of urgent same-day trips you agreed to run. A pattern may bring a corrective action plan, fewer offers, or changes to your hours or service area.
• Get approval before changing anything. Pickup time, appointment time, addresses, and vehicle type stay as assigned unless GOBHI approves a change. A vehicle that still meets the rider’s needs is fine, for example a wheelchair van with ambulatory seating sent for someone scheduled for a sedan. Trips not run as authorized are not paid.
• Late handoffs are not held against you. Sometimes GOBHI offers you a same-day ride that is already running behind when it reaches you. Its pickup time stays fixed, the late start does not count against you, and GOBHI notes on the trip that it came to you late.

At pickup, drivers let the member know they have arrived and stay until 15 minutes have passed since the scheduled time, then notify dispatch before leaving. Members are told the driver may come anywhere from 15 minutes early to 15 minutes late, a 30-minute window. A member may not be left at a facility earlier than 15 minutes before opening unless they ask, and return riders should be collected within 15 minutes of closing. Waiting at a booked pharmacy stop is capped at 15 minutes unless GOBHI authorizes more. When a driver runs over 15 minutes late, the rider’s guide says GOBHI arranges another driver, another company, or public transit.

Driver assistance has limits. Drivers can help a member up or down one or two steps and walk them into the clinic lobby. They do not go into homes or exam rooms, move members between wheelchair and bed, or help them get dressed. For hospital discharges, the driver goes to the nurse’s station on the unit and escorts the member the whole way. See level of service and hand-to-hand service. The manual’s grounds for suspension include member complaints that a driver showed up over 30 minutes after a return pickup was requested or scheduled, and knowingly employing anyone convicted of a felony, or of a sex-related misdemeanor, as a driver.

Long trips, special needs, and empty miles

GOBHI only pays for miles driven with a member aboard. The manual rules out deadhead miles: empty mileage, waiting time, and return legs without the member cannot be billed. When the brokerage caused an empty run, GOBHI’s NEMT operations manager can review it case by case.

On long runs, that leaves the rate structure as your main lever.

• Base plus mileage. Every request uses this format, with room for an initial-miles charge and a per-mile rate after it.
• Flat rates. For a flat rate on a particular run, attach GOBHI’s flat rate spreadsheet with the estimated miles and the start and end points.
• Timing. One rate request every 90 days. GOBHI replies within 30 days, and an approved rate takes effect within 30 days of approval.
• Evidence. GOBHI’s finance team looks at OHA (DMAP) rate guidelines, average network rates, your explanation, geography, and industry changes. The form asks for the cost data behind an increase and states that GOBHI will not approve one without enough explanation.

The guides on rural NEMT and long-distance pricing work through the math.

Some long trips leave Oregon. Under OAR 410-141-3930, a CCO must cover rides outside its service area when the care cannot be found locally, and when the care is in a neighboring state, next to the service area, and no more than 75 miles past the Oregon line. For open card members, OAR 410-136-3020 requires the same for care in California, Idaho, or Washington up to 75 miles from the border. GOBHI keeps a Walla Walla phone number for members.

Special medical needs follow their own route. When a request calls for a stretcher, oxygen, or a ventilator and no network provider can take it, GOBHI sends an OHP 405T form to the hospital caseworker. The caseworker fills in the trip, names an outside provider that has agreed to run it, and emails the form back to 405t@gobhi.org for review. Payment follows the OHP fee schedule unless special circumstances justify a higher approved amount, and the approved form goes to OHA’s Provider Services unit. For an ambulance or stretcher company outside the network, a 405T trip is a way to work with GOBHI one ride at a time.

Only providers approved under OAR 309-033-0200 through 309-033-0970 may run secure transport. EOCCO also permits secure transport for members who are not under any hold. Before GOBHI authorizes one of those rides, it needs two documents: the member’s informed consent to secure transport, and the treating medical professional’s written account of the circumstances that call for it.

Records, incidents, audits, and pay

Trip records must be kept for at least ten years. For each trip the manual lists the member’s name, the date, where the ride started and ended, the appointment time, the planned pickup, when the pickup and drop-off really happened, the mode, the provider and driver, the authorization or trip number, mileage, cost, and the vehicle ID or plate. The trip log template covers every one of these fields.

Report each accident or incident within 24 hours with the time and place, the driver and vehicle, what happened, any injuries, and whether the driver or a passenger needed hospital treatment. An injury, a death, or an abuse allegation requires written notice immediately. In an emergency, call 911, notify GOBHI dispatch at once, and follow up with a written incident report inside 24 hours. Suspected privacy breaches have the same 24-hour limit. GOBHI expects a response to a general grievance within three business days, and it can shorten that to one business day when the matter is serious. The incident report template covers the fields.

GOBHI’s compliance department audits trip logs, mileage, pickup and drop-off times, member signatures, billing, driver and vehicle files, and complaints. It also makes site visits, usually arranged in advance, and sends written findings afterward. Payments continue during an audit, but overpayments are recovered, for example by deducting them from a later invoice. The broker audit guide covers preparation.

Contacts

Running GOBHI trips in HealthRide

A GOBHI trip is ready to invoice only after it has the driver, vehicle, and arrival and departure times, and GOBHI wants trip records kept for ten years. HealthRide’s driver app records the time of every pickup and drop-off, GPS-verified miles, and the rider’s on-screen signature during the ride, and the trip log downloads as a CSV or PDF from reports. Credential expiration reminders help keep yearly background checks, driving records, and training current between GOBHI’s reviews.