Uber vs NEMT vs Ambulance — what's the future for NEMT?! | NEMT Experts Podcast Episode 91
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In this episode of the NEMT Experts Podcast, Nirav sits down with Dominic Buono, the Director of Business Development at Onward, who lays out the emerging trends of how NEMT is stacking up to TNCs like Uber and Lyft and to ambulance companies.
Top 3 takeaways
- TNCs are rising for curb-to-curb ambulatory, but door-to-door and door-through-door still favor credentialed NEMT. Autonomous shows up in RFPs, yet providers won’t be displaced overnight.
- Hospitals and ambulance realities: consolidation and driver shortages pushed many hospitals to run their own ambulances. NEMT stretcher and gurney teams are picking up more discharge work, but you need two-person crews and proper compliance.
- National scale in NEMT is hard due to state-by-state rules, costs, and licensing. The practical path is relationships with large health systems and regional growth.
Top 3 quotes (Dominic Buono)
- “If you get in with just say, HCA here in Nashville, they’re all over the country. I mean, they got 1200, 1300 facilities. You get into one of those. I mean, you’re, you’re set.”
- “I think that’s the next phase in our industry. And it’s coming, it’s coming fast. I mean, we even see it in RFPs today. They’re asking for either electric EVs or they’re asking for autonomous.”
- “I don’t think so because again, there is certain levels of service and certain niches… I don’t think it’s gonna change dramatically to the point that a lot of providers are gonna start losing trips to an autonomous vehicle or to a typical ride share.”
