About this episode
Recorded live at NEMTAC Transform 2026 in Orlando, this AI panel moderated by Howard Berkowitz puts Bambi CEO Nirav Chheda, B811 Medical Transportation owner Roslyn Robinson-Taggart, and Modivcare VP Holly Graham on one question: does AI improve rider access or just efficiency? Chheda calls send the closest available driver logic amateur hour because it starves stretcher, bariatric, and oxygen trips, and says AI should suggest while humans decide. Graham notes every broker is already piloting TNCs for unassisted ambulatory trips, and the session closes with Bambi winning the NEMTAC 2026 Innovation in NEMT Award.
Key takeaways
- Nirav Chheda says the one metric the industry should track is missed and late appointments, because efficiency gains come first, are easiest to measure, and access follows them.
- Send the closest available driver logic lets AI default to easy ambulatory trips, so weight stretcher, bariatric, and oxygen trips explicitly and audit on-time performance by trip type.
- Holly Graham of Modivcare says a member who feels unsafe, is stranded, or will miss an appointment should reach a human at once, not after asking for a representative three times.
- An AI dash cam turns two weeks of one driver's late pickups into a flagged trend, the difference between a five minute conversation and handling an incident after the fact.
- On Waymo, Roslyn Robinson-Taggart says no driverless car will retrieve a member at the door, while Graham says brokers are already piloting TNCs for unassisted ambulatory trips.
Chapters
- 0:00 Cold open
- 0:23 Panel intro and the question: access or efficiency?
- 2:30 The provider view: does saving five minutes improve access to care?
- 3:07 Nirav: efficiency comes first, and the one metric the industry should track
- 4:09 The broker view: aggregate KPIs hide complex riders
- 4:32 Reaching riders with different needs: elderly, disabilities, limited English
- 4:48 Nirav: the fix is not a smarter chatbot, it is knowing when to route to a human
- 5:25 Triggers that should always escalate: "I feel unsafe," "I'm stranded"
- 6:10 Complex trips: why the easiest trip is not the best trip
- 6:29 Nirav: "send the closest driver" is amateur hour
- 8:13 Where AI makes operations safer today: AI dash cams
- 9:23 What AI should recommend vs what humans must decide
- 10:33 Governance first, automation second: who owns the mistake?
- 11:18 It's not my fault, it's her fault
- 11:49 Audience question: what does Waymo mean for NEMT?
- 12:18 Provider answer: nobody loads a wheelchair from a driverless car
- 12:46 Nirav: liability is why ambulatory trips are NEMT, not taxi
- 13:06 Broker answer: every broker is already piloting TNCs for ambulatory
- 13:54 Bambi wins the NEMTAC 2026 Innovation in NEMT Award
