Software for VA transportation providers: special mode rides, records, and invoices

Where does a contractor’s software fit next to VA’s portal?

VA runs its own ordering and invoicing, so a contractor’s software supports the fleet and does not replace VA’s portal. Two 2026 solicitations show the split. Hines VA (Illinois, RFQ 36C25226Q0498) names the VetRide Vendor Portal or other VA-provided software as the primary source of trip requests. Its amendment 0002 has the contractor use the portal for every patient transported, respond to electronic trip requests, and send invoices within 30 calendar days of the date of service. VA provides the software, and onboarding happens within five business days of award. The same solicitation also has the contractor use a secure web-based system that supports order taking, trip editing, automated scheduling, dispatching, billing, and reporting, and give scheduling and tracking information to VA on request (PWS 2.13).

Altoona VAMC (Pennsylvania, 36C24426R0021) goes further. Claims go in on the electronic HCFA 1500 inside the portal, the contractor must have dedicated staff available to monitor it around the clock, and anything that departs from the original order has to be updated there in real time. VA may hold payment on that order until it is reconciled. When the portal is down, VA places orders by telephone or fax and reconciles them with the contractor the next business day.

The terms in this page come from those two solicitations, and a signed contract’s own terms control. That leaves the contractor’s own software the other half of the job: the board, the drivers, the vehicles, and the record of what each van did. Who qualifies for special mode, how medical centers buy the service, and how to bid are covered in VA transportation contracts. Under 38 CFR 70.4(d), VA approves special mode travel before the trip unless it is a medical emergency. Both solicitations list the VA staff who may place or change an order and say private agencies, nursing homes for example, may not. Altoona adds that the contractor accepts orders only from the people the contracting officer names, and that filling an order from anyone else may cost the contractor payment or delay it.

What trip data does VA ask a contractor to produce?

It asks for GPS mileage and waiting data that can be exported, plus an itemized weekly report built from the trips. Hines VA states the GPS rule in section 2.10: every vehicle needs a tracking system or equivalent with step-by-step directions, daily point-to-point mileage, and wait or idle time at a pickup. The data has to be exportable to VA for checking trip mileage and waiting time, and it has to accompany invoices.

Amendment 0002 adds a weekly itemized report, Monday through Sunday, reviewed and approved before it goes in as an invoice. Each trip line shows:

• The trip itself. The patient’s name, the VA ticket number, the date, the pickup location, the destination, and the scheduled pickup time.
• The vehicle. The vehicle number and its class, sedan or wheelchair van.
• The clock and the miles. The departure time, the arrival time, and VA’s calculated mileage.
• The extras. Waiting time and its cost, and any cancellation or no-load and its cost, each reported separately for sedans and wheelchair vans, then the total trip cost.
• The reason. Documentation of the circumstances whenever the contractor bills for an attempted pickup or for waiting.

VA reviews each itemized trip for accuracy and suspends unauthorized charges, and the contractor can send supporting documents to argue for a suspended one. Hines also asks drivers to log each patient in and out on VA’s own sheets at the hospital, with the patient’s name, the date and time, the vehicle identification number, the driver’s name, and the contractor’s name. The timing rules sit in the same document: pickups count as on time within 15 minutes either way of the scheduled time, and drop-offs have to land between 90 and 30 minutes before the appointment.

How do VA solicitations pay mileage and waiting?

VA pays on its own numbers, and each solicitation sets the allowance differently. Both solicitations below say that payment for mileage is limited to VA’s own map calculation, which picks the shortest travel time. Hines puts the pre-calculated, authorized mileage on the manifest before the trip.

Spokane’s 2026 terms, which differ again, are in VA transportation contracts. Altoona’s solicitation and its amendments add three points. Each trip is a one-way trip, so a round trip is two trips, and the base rate depends on the county the veteran is leaving. There is no line for deadhead or repositioning miles, so those costs have to live inside the prices. Mileage on an invoice is rounded to the nearest mile.

For a contractor, GPS-recorded miles are evidence and not the basis for payment. They matter when a trip had to run differently from the order, such as a road closure that adds miles. That is the case Altoona names for updating the portal in real time, and Hines asks the contractor to call the VA transportation office when it expects a delay it will bill for.

What happens when the veteran is not there, or something goes wrong?

The solicitations set short clocks for no-loads, accidents, and complaints. At Hines VA, a trip cancelled at least 60 minutes before pickup is not charged, and a no-load has to be reported to VA staff before the van leaves the pickup point. If the van is no-loaded at a VA facility, the one-way trip rate applies. If it is no-loaded elsewhere, such as a veteran who refuses transport, mileage is computed from the contractor’s dispatch address to the pickup. The contracting officer’s representative approves every no-load charge.

At Hines, a written accident or incident report is due within 24 hours and must include witnesses’ names, addresses, and phone numbers and any police report. Accident records, including the repair work, are kept three years. Complaints forwarded to the contractor get a written answer within three working days at Hines. Altoona allows 48 hours for a written response to an incident investigation. An incident report template gives drivers the same fields to fill in the day it happens, and the trip record supplies the times.

Which vehicles, drivers, and staff will VA ask about?

At Hines VA, the contractor dedicates at least 20 wheelchair-capable passenger vans, 20 sedans, and 45 drivers, with 24-hour, seven-day service and at least two dispatchers on site at the hospital on weekdays. Next-day manifests arrive by 10 p.m. The contractor keeps up to 15 same-day add-on requests a day in reserve and confirms each within 15 minutes. Each driver is at least 18 with three years as a licensed driver, and the contractor keeps a record of every employee’s driving record and any complaints for VA to inspect.

Altoona’s wheelchair van drivers must be able to assist with a veteran’s own oxygen, which amendment 0007 changed from administering it, and must have completed the American Red Cross standard and advanced first aid courses or the equivalent, with certificates handed over on request. Credential dates, wheelchair and oxygen needs on the rider’s profile, and a vehicle check before each shift are the records that answer those questions.

Running VA rides in HealthRide

HealthRide holds the fleet side of a VA contract. Wheelchair, stretcher, and oxygen needs are matched to the vehicle, and every one-way leg is its own trip record, so the trip log in reports can put scheduled and actual times beside GPS-verified miles when VA questions a line, and it exports to CSV or PDF. The live map shows every vehicle with late warnings, which helps keep pickups inside the window. Credential expirations, such as a license or a first aid card, raise reminders before they lapse, and drivers check their van in the driver app at the start of each shift.