Nursing home transportation software for resident appointments and discharges
Nursing home transportation software schedules wheelchair, stretcher, and ambulatory rides for residents going to dialysis, specialists, imaging, and hospital follow-ups, plus discharges home. It lets facility staff book rides and watch the van approach, matches each resident's equipment to the right vehicle, and bills the building on one monthly invoice, which matters in states where the building covers resident transport.
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Nursing home rides are heavier work
Nursing home residents need far more hands-on help than residents of assisted living. A federal CDC survey found 14,700 nursing homes in 2022, with 1.2 million residents and 1.6 million licensed beds. The same federal survey compares them with residential care communities, the category that includes assisted living.
| 2022, share of residents who | Nursing homes | Residential care communities |
|---|---|---|
| Needed help walking or getting around | 93.4% | 70.9% |
| Needed help moving between a bed and a chair | 78.9% | 56.8% |
| Had Medicaid as a payer | 62.3% | 16.9% |
Those numbers shape the fleet and the schedule. Some residents ride in wheelchairs, some are bed-confined and need a stretcher plus whatever crew your state or payer requires, and more than nine in ten need help getting around, so plan on assistance between the room and the vehicle. That is door-through-door service, with time built in at both ends. For example, a 30-minute appointment across town can hold a van for most of a morning once loading, the visit, and the return are counted.
Why the facility calls you
Federal rules make the nursing home responsible for getting residents to certain outside care. Under 42 CFR 483.55, the facility must help a resident book dental visits and arrange transportation to them when needed or requested. Similar language covers vision and hearing appointments and foot care in 42 CFR 483.25, and outside lab and radiology services in 42 CFR 483.50. The rules do not require the facility to own a van. A building can meet the duty by calling an outside provider.
Emergency plans add another reason. 42 CFR 483.73 requires each facility’s emergency procedures to address safe evacuation, and transportation is one of the items listed. A provider with wheelchair and stretcher vans nearby can be part of that plan.
Who pays depends on your state
Before you price a single ride, find out whether the resident’s trip is paid by the broker or by the building. States split on this, and the answer decides who your customer is.
| State | Who pays for routine resident rides |
|---|---|
| Indiana | For dates of service from July 1, 2023, the building coordinates and pays for its Medicaid residents’ trips other than ALS or BLS ambulance runs. The daily rate covers them, and the state broker does not schedule them. |
| Louisiana | The state’s managed care manual puts residents’ rides that are not by ambulance inside the facility per diem, so the building owes the bill. |
| Montana | The facility handles routine trips when the destination is within 20 miles. Medicaid may pay when the resident needs a wheelchair or stretcher, or must travel farther than 20 miles. |
In states like these, the facility is the account and your invoice goes to its business office. In other states the Medicaid broker or health plan arranges resident rides, and the facility books through them. Read your state’s transportation manual and ask each building how it handles rides today. The facility billing guide covers rates, terms, and disputed trips once the building is paying you.
The trips a nursing home books
Most nursing home work falls into a few repeat patterns. Each one puts a different demand on the schedule.
| Trip | What makes it hard | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Dialysis | Chair times several days a week that cannot slip | A recurring series per resident, with one-day changes |
| Specialist and imaging visits | Appointment end times nobody can predict | A return held as a will-call until the clinic calls |
| Hospital follow-ups | Short notice and residents who tire quickly | Room on the board for same-day adds |
| Discharges home | Paperwork, belongings, and family timing | A confirmed payer and address before the ride |
| Stretcher moves | Bed-confined residents and extra crew | Only stretcher-equipped vans, staffed the way your state requires |
Discharges need extra care on the money side. Once a resident leaves, the building may no longer be the payer, so confirm who pays for the ride home before the van leaves your lot.
What floor staff need from you
The person booking a ride is often a unit clerk, a nurse, or a social worker with a full assignment. Three things keep them booking with you.
- A fast way to request a ride. A booking screen beats a voicemail, and a written request leaves a record of what was asked for.
- An arrival time they can trust. When the resident is dressed and waiting in the hall, staff want to see where the van is, not call your office.
- The right van the first time. A resident booked as a walker who now uses a wheelchair should never meet a van without a lift. Save each resident’s mobility needs once and let every booking reuse them.
Records protect both sides. Arrival, pickup, and drop-off times, the wait before a no-show, and a signature at each end answer the questions a director of nursing or an administrator is likely to raise about a ride.
What to look for in nursing home transportation software
- Wheelchair and stretcher matching. Each resident’s needs checked against each van’s equipment on every assignment.
- Facility requests and live tracking. Staff book online and watch the van approach.
- Resident profiles. Mobility, oxygen, and ride-along needs saved once.
- Recurring trips. Dialysis and therapy series that keep going without rebooking.
- Open returns. Will-call pickups that wait on the board until the resident is ready.
- Per-facility rates and one invoice. Each building billed at its own rates, grouped by billing period.
- A live board for the whole fleet. Every building’s trips next to your broker and private-pay work, with a trip moved to another van in one step when the day changes.
- A trip record for every ride. Times, waits, signatures, and GPS-recorded miles you can export.
Doing it in HealthRide
Nursing home staff can request rides through HealthRide’s facility portal, follow the van live, and view and pay the building’s invoices in the same place. Each resident’s wheelchair, stretcher, or oxygen needs are checked against the van before a trip is assigned. Completed trips turn into an invoice priced from that facility’s rates, so each building gets one bill per billing period with every ride listed.
Frequently asked questions
- Do nursing homes have to arrange transportation for residents?
- Federal rules require nursing homes to help residents make appointments and arrange rides to dental care, vision and hearing care, foot care, and outside lab and radiology services when a resident needs that help. The rules do not require a facility to own vans. A facility can meet the duty by booking an outside provider.
- Who pays for a Medicaid nursing home resident's ride to the doctor?
- That varies by state. Indiana shifted these rides to the building on July 1, 2023: each nursing facility now books and pays for its Medicaid residents' trips that are not ALS or BLS ambulance runs, and its daily rate is treated as covering them. Louisiana folds rides that are not by ambulance into the facility per diem as well. Montana makes the facility responsible for routine trips within 20 miles, while Medicaid may pay for wheelchair and stretcher trips and longer ones. Elsewhere the broker may arrange the ride, so read your state's manual first.
- How many nursing homes operate in the US?
- In 2022 there were 14,700 nursing homes with 1.6 million licensed beds and 1.2 million residents, according to CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. About 72.4 percent had for-profit ownership.
- What level of service do nursing home residents usually need?
- More help than residents of assisted living. In 2022, 93.4 percent of nursing home residents needed help walking or getting around and 78.9 percent needed help moving between a bed and a chair, compared with 70.9 and 56.8 percent in residential care communities. Plan for wheelchair vans, stretcher capacity, and staff who assist from the room to the vehicle.
- What should a nursing home include in each ride request?
- The resident's name and room or unit, the destination and appointment time, how the resident travels (walker, wheelchair, or stretcher), any oxygen, whether staff or family will ride along, how the return will work, who pays, and a contact on the floor. A request missing the level of service is the one that sends the wrong van.
- Can a nursing home get one invoice for the whole month?
- Yes. Group completed trips by facility and billing period, show one line per ride with the date, resident, route, level of service, and charges, and apply the payment terms agreed in the transportation contract.
