About this episode
Alex Stoia left e-commerce product management in Los Angeles for Corazon Concierge, the NEMT business his parents started in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2018 with one Prius and one ADA minivan, and he joined them roughly a month before this recording. The fleet is now two ADA minivans and a RAV4, two of the three already at capacity, with about half the rides private pay and the rest from four facilities and broker work. Only one of those four facilities has signed a contract; the other three run on verbal agreements at Corazon's private pay rates.
Key takeaways
- Three of the four facility relationships carry no contract at all. They run on verbal agreement, pay Corazon's private pay rates, settle a weekly invoice, and flag a budget ceiling in advance.
- New facilities tested Corazon for one to two months on whether it showed up on time before routing all their rides. Three of the four relationships developed inside the past year.
- The competition is not other providers. Caretakers, family and friends move wheelchair users in ordinary cars, which Stoia notes can expose a caretaker who is not on the vehicle's insurance.
- Stoia's first act was killing pen and paper. Orders had been written on physical slips that drivers collected at the office or received as photos, with dispatch done by phone.
- Their main broker is recruiting carriers because New Mexico has so few NEMT providers, but Stoia is steering toward private pay contracts and a long term target near ten ADA vans.
Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction
- 1:10 Alex's background in joining NEMT
- 3:17 About Alex's NEMT business
- 6:01 Long-term goals of the business
- 8:10 Sources of ride requests
- 9:57 Working with facilities directly
- 13:15 Driving more business
- 20:47 Non-NEMT transport in New Mexico
- 25:20 Pre and post using Bambi
