Lost and found log for a ride company: what was left behind, who found it, and when it went back

Keep this log in the office, not in the van, and give one person charge of it. It turns a pile of phones, wallets and pill bottles into a record that says who found each item, who it likely belongs to, who was told and who signed for it when it went back. The seat checks, the rules for medicine and the order in which items go home are in the guide to items left in the NEMT van. This page is the log itself, the wording for the call to the rider, and two examples of how long a place requires you to hold what you find.

How to use the log

1. Log the item the day it is found. The driver hands it to dispatch with a few words on where it was. Dispatch writes the line in Part A and attaches a numbered tag or envelope.
2. Name the likely owner from the trip records. Look at who used that seat or that wheelchair position since the last sweep, not at who you hope it is.
3. Make the call, then log it. Part B records who contacted the rider, when and how. Use the wording below.
4. Release only against a description. Ask the caller to describe the item and say where they were picked up before you confirm anything. Treat a call asking whether a rider used your van as a request for rider information. Apart from disclosures to family and others involved in the rider’s care, 45 CFR 164.514(h)(1)(i) requires a covered entity to verify the identity of a person who asks for protected health information when it does not already know them.
5. Get a signature on the way out. For a rider who lives in a facility, the signer is the staff member who takes it, with a name and a role.
6. Close the hold. When the hold period ends, Part C records where the item went and who approved it.

The template

Part A: Items found

One line per item. Medicine and cash have their own lines below the table.

Medicine. Write “medicine, one container” and the log number only. Seal the container in an envelope marked with the number, store it indoors and tell the rider the same day. Never record the drug name or copy the label.

Cash or a wallet. Two staff members count the cash together, write the total here, and seal it. Both sign and date. Do not keep cash overnight in the van.

Part B: Contact and return

Use the same number as Part A.

Part C: Hold and unclaimed items

Fill in only for items nobody has collected. Our hold period: ordinary items ____ days, medicine and mobility aids ____ days.

For “What happens next”, choose one: returned to the rider’s facility, given to the police, donated, or shredded for papers that carry health details. The record disposal guide covers shredding.

What to say in a voicemail or text

Keep the message to your company name, a number to call and a request to call back, and write it so a stranger who hears it learns nothing about the rider. The guide to rider notifications covers the rule for messages to riders. A voicemail can be heard by a spouse, a roommate or whoever picks up the phone, and it can land on a wrong number. When commenters asked HHS in 2013 for a breach exception for a voice message left at the wrong number, HHS declined (78 FR 5566, at 5646). A covered entity must also limit incidental disclosures (45 CFR 164.530(c)(2)(ii)).

Example wording, to adapt:

Hello, this is [first name] at [company name]. We found an item that may be yours. Please call [number] and ask for [role]. We are open [hours].

Leave out the destination, the date of the ride, the name of any clinic and what the item is when it is medicine. Describe it only when you are speaking with the rider. A message to a relative or a facility desk goes to someone other than the rider, where the minimum necessary rule in 45 CFR 164.502(b) generally applies, so keep it just as short. The HIPAA guide for NEMT explains who is a covered entity.

How long to hold what you find

The rules on found property come from state and local law, and they differ widely. Two examples show the range:

• New York. Anyone who finds lost property worth $20 or more must return it to the owner or deposit it with the police within ten days of finding it (Personal Property Law 252). Whether something a rider left in your own van counts as lost property under that law is a question for a local lawyer. A ten-day return or turn-in target for cash, wallets and valuables fits the clock either way.
• Savannah, Georgia. The city’s code defines a non-emergency vehicle as a van that carries passengers for hire to and from medical appointments, so its rule for lost property reaches NEMT vans. Section 6-2048 tells a driver to report property a passenger left and deliver it to the company office within twelve hours. It tells the company to keep it for the owner for at least 60 days.

Because the trip records usually name the owner, the hold clock matters most for cash and for items with no identifiable owner. Write one hold period for ordinary items, put medicine and mobility aids on a shorter clock of their own, and print both at the top of Part C. The guide to items left in the van has the California and Florida finder statutes, the rules for returning medicine and an example policy.

Filling the owner column with HealthRide

The likely-owner column comes from the trip log. HealthRide records every leg with its driver, vehicle, and scheduled and actual times, and reports exports the log as a spreadsheet or a print-ready PDF. Open the log for the day the item was found, look for the van, and the riders who used it since the last sweep appear with their pickup and drop-off times.