Looking for recommendations for long distance medical transport
Hi,
My elderly mother was in a very, very bad car accident over 4 hours away from the Bay Area, where she and we live. If and when she is stable we want to transfer her to a hospital here. So far insurance is refusing a lateral transfer (trauma center to trauma center), so while we are working with them we are also considering paying for transport without insurance. A quick search brought up a ton of different companies. Does anyone have experience with this type of medical transport? Thank you for any information!
May 20, 2021
Parent Replies
My husband used a private medical transport to come see our sons birth while he was in a different hospital, but it was all local. About $500 for a couple hours (they drove him, brought him up in wheelchair, waited 2-3 hrs so he could attend birth, then drive him back to his hospital), but maybe we paid extra for being able to call them in the middle of the night. And he didn’t need medical treatment, just help with wheelchair
I’m sorry to hear about your mother. I was recently transported by Royal Ambulance from the hospital where I received trauma care to a rehab hospital. It was a local transfer (less than 10 miles) and it cost my insurance company around $700.
An ambulance transfer with significant injuries is unpleasant. You can feel every single bump. I wouldn’t have been happy about a 4 hour ambulance ride at the time. And I was done with the trauma care and beginning physical rehab.
Another thing to consider is to make sure that your mother’s insurance will pay for the new hospital. That typically needs to be authorized in advance unlike the initial hospital providing the emergency trauma care.
There are a number of ambulance companies in the area that offer this type of service. For example Pro Transport: https://protransport-1.com/services/ or NorCal Ambiances: https://norcalambulance.com/services/ What level of care she needs will determine what type of transport she needs. When I became an EMT I did my transport ride-along with Pro Transport and I have done my recertifications training twice at a NorCal Facility. Both look reasonable to me. And depending on your mother's needs both will have the appropriate level of medical staff transport her.