Ride Health Raises Millions to Coordinate The Medical Transportation Ecosystem

Ride Health, providing smarter transportation for every patient need, announced they raised $6.2 million in a funding round led by Activate Venture Partners. The capital raise is joined by Newark Venture Partners, Anthro Ventures, BioAdvance, Leading Edge Ventures and Startup Health, according to a news release from Cision PR Newswire.

Ride Health will use the funds in an initiative of ensuring every patient, everywhere, has access to the care and resources they need to ensure good health.

Ride Health developed its real-time transportation coordination platform to overcome the significant challenges posed by traditional non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) systems. Millions of Americans struggle with transportation barriers that impact their ability to access quality health care. Patients and caregivers have difficulty navigating limited transportation options; providers lose billions from no-shows and delayed discharges; care coordinators lack the necessary insights to make informed decisions on transportation options; and insurers pay tens of billions in avoidable healthcare expenses due to lapses in care transitions and access related to transportation, the release says.

Related: Transportation Program Reduces Barriers to Healthcare Access

NEMT industry's first real-time solution
The company's web-based and mobile-enabled platform solves these problems by connecting health plans and healthcare providers to a national network of high-performing transportation providers across all ride types and service levels, from public transit and ride-hailing to wheelchair-accessible vehicles and ambulances. The platform ingests multiple data points, maps each patient's needs and preferences, and coordinates an optimal experience for all stakeholders. To ensure high quality rides every time, the platform integrates with dispatch, clinical, and customer relationship management systems to bring real-time visibility, decision support, and data-driven performance management to the NEMT market.

"Healthcare organizations are increasingly recognizing the critical role that transportation plays in improving access to care and outcomes, but traditional approaches to medical transportation fail patients and providers at scale on a daily basis," says Ride Health CEO and Founder Imran Cronk. "Ride Health is built to bring lasting and systemic change to this industry. We are setting the standard for real-time visibility at the intersection of healthcare and transportation, similar to what Flexport has done for global logistics. These efforts are made more challenging because we work with vulnerable patients who need access to life-sustaining care and contend with multiple social factors impacting their health."

More than a marketplace for rides, Ride Health provides a continuously improving network of transportation providers that compete on service quality and cost. The company tracks ride-level performance data and feedback to produce a rating of both the quality of service and cost of a ride. This performance management combines with a support platform that triages notifications of potential disruptions to notify a support team that can intervene in real time. The improved response time from this technology-enabled, human-driven approach to ride support results in an improved patient experience and a meaningful reduction in delays and complaints, the release says.

"Transportation plays a critical role in lowering the cost of healthcare by ensuring patients get the care they need when they need it," says Todd Pietri, managing partner of Activate Venture Partners. "Ride Health empowers healthcare providers, payers, and patients to leverage technology and data to improve health outcomes at a lower cost. We feel fortunate to be in business with an innovative company addressing a large and attractive market with a powerful value proposition."

Penn Medicine reduces costs, no-shows and length of stay
For hospitals and health systems, Ride Health helps patients access primary care, adhere to chronic disease treatment plans, receive post-acute follow up care, and get home safely after emergency department visits or hospital admissions. Healthcare providers across the country are using Ride Health to reduce appointment no-shows and late cancellations, improve on-time arrivals, reduce delayed discharges, and improve patient experience and outcomes.

Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine has been using Ride Health to arrange rides for patients from their homes to appointments and from the hospital to home, contributing to reduced costs related to patient transportation in the outpatient setting and an average reduction in length of stay by 6 hours for patients qualifying for service within the inpatient setting.

"It can take three buses and an hour for a patient to travel three miles," says Roy Rosin, MBA, chief innovation officer of Penn Medicine, which includes the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. "That's a significant obstacle that many patients, especially those low-income or mobility-challenged patients, can't overcome. Ride Health lets us order and track vehicles and has delivered a 98% rate of on-time arrivals, which dramatically cuts the high cost of a delay."

Transportation management for health plans
In addition to its work with health systems, Ride Health now supports transportation benefit management for health plans in 10 states, optimizing utilization across all transportation modes including mileage reimbursement, public transit, ride-hailing, wheelchair-accessible vehicles, ambulettes, and basic and advanced life support ambulances.

Ride Health handles roster management and eligibility screening for members, ride scheduling through a self-service Member Portal and managed contact center, and a real-time feedback system designed to reduce complaints and grievances. The resulting improvements in operational performance and available ride data drive lower costs, increased member satisfaction, and greater accountability.