What’s Ahead for Patient Transportation in the New Year and Beyond
As 2024 comes to a close and we look ahead to healthcare trends in 2025, numerous experts have begun making healthcare predictions about what the future may hold. Here at Roundtrip, we have gathered seven key insights and predictions regarding the evolving landscape of healthcare transportation as we approach 2025.
1. Centralized Transportation Management
In 2025, we will continue to see growth in centralized transportation management systems such as Command Centers, Transfer Centers, and System Operation Centers. Leaders in the Patient Flow, EMS, and Case Management will be providing crucial accountability for capacity management and patient/resource management across system locations. They must ensure that policies, workflows, and supporting technology are well-aligned to bridge the gap between bedside care and centralized oversight and coordination. Clinical needs and indications for patient transport can be nuanced, and systems may have some financial risk if appropriate documentation isn’t buttoned up.
2. Improved Staffing Efficiencies
Another continuing trend in 2025? Healthcare providers will continue to build operational and personnel efficiencies. This includes designing workflows and bringing in lower level staff to take on time-consuming activities (like insurance authorizations) in an effort to enable credentialed staff operate at the top of license. Healthcare organizations could bring aboard more Care Coordination Assistants, Case Management Assistants, and Transportation Coordinators, or even expand the scope of existing roles like Unit Clerks.
However, patient transportation needs are nuanced and organizations looking to rely on these staff in 2025 need to be mindful of employee training and guidance. It’s important to ensure that key activities are not too far removed from direct patient knowledge, staff receives clear guidance from credentialed staff, and staff is adequately trained to understand the nuances of different transportation types and needs.
3. Transportation Prior Authorizations Remain in the Shadows
Prior authorizations are darling of many emerging HealthTech and AI companies, as well as an increasingly charged topic in public discourse. While there may be increased scrutiny into the use and execution of prior authorizations in 2025, we anticipate that prior authorizations for transportation may continue to fly under the radar. Non-Emergency Medical Transportation coverage remains an oversight in the Summary of Benefits and Coverages template, and organizations often outsource the administration of these benefits. These vendors often manage prior authorizations which complicates oversight.
4. Cost vs Value of Transportation
As members of the healthcare delivery value chain feel pressures around rising healthcare costs, the divide between folks who see transportation as a value driver versus a cost driver will grow more stark. Those who recognize transportation as a value driver will invest in improving systems that facilitate timely patient movement and support ER avoidance workflows, tracking the ROI on efforts to move the needle on patient flow, census, readmissions, and more. In contrast, others may view it solely as a cost driver and focus on minimizing transportation expenditures, creating processes focused on traceability for transportation spend.
5. Data-Driven Transportation Relationships
In 2025, healthcare systems and transportation providers will increasingly use data-driven insights to strengthen partnerships and drive conversations about process improvements that can support shared goals and accountability. Negotiations will move beyond rates and standard metrics like “90% within 60 minutes,” focusing instead on the introduction of more thoughtful and actionable performance measures and acknowledgement of the shared responsibility that exists in maintaining the symbiotic relationship between healthcare providers and transportation providers.
Not sure if your organization views patient transportation as a cost or a value driver? Need guidance on how to leverage data to drive accountability? Watch our on-demand webinar for a primer on how maturing your transportation strategy can help you crush your 2025 organizational goals.
6. Preparation for 2026 Benefit Design Changes
This 2025 healthcare prediction feels a little like cheating as we look beyond the year ahead. We know that groundwork for the 2026 benefit design will be starting before we know it (if it hasn’t already). With the impending termination of the Medicare Advantage Value Based Insurance Design model after 2025, the inclusion of transportation in supplemental benefit packages may be reevaluated.
While transportation is undeniably high-impact, the time-sensitive logistics and limitations of the eligible populations mean it can also be a relatively high-cost and high-grievance supplemental benefit. MA plans continue to design to maximize enrollment, manage costs, and maintain ratings, so the cost and impact of supplemental benefits will face scrutiny. At the same time, the new administration has expressed a willingness to experiment with Medicaid benefits, which could include changes to funding models and/or more state-level control of benefits, which could impact the current CMS mandate that Medicaid plans provide NEMT coverage. Conversations around these potential impacts will play out over 2025, with the earliest changes coming in 2026.
7. Market Shifts and Consolidation in Healthcare Transportation
2024 market trends, such as MTM’s acquisition of Access2Care, highlight the ongoing consolidation in the healthcare transportation. While the financial stability of some large players in the healthcare transportation space are still under examination, we see increased market appetite to fund mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the fragmented ambulance and transportation company space. As PE firms are running into increased scrutiny around ownership stakes in hospitals and medical practices, a diversification into other healthcare services (including healthcare transportation) is natural.
Regardless of the specifics of our healthcare predictions for 2025, one thing is clear: the demand for effective and efficient healthcare transportation solutions will continue to rise in the coming years. By staying attuned to these trends, leaders can better navigate the evolving landscape of healthcare in 2025 and beyond.