Paratransit Versus Ambulance Services: What’s the Difference?

Medical transportation exists to provide us with access to healthcare when and where we need it. Whether you have been in an accident and need immediate care,  if you are unable to drive due to a medical condition or you don’t have access to reliable transportation, there are a number of options available to ensure that you receive the care that you need. How do you know which one is right for you? It’s actually an easy question to answer.

The biggest difference between determining if a patient is in need of ambulance or paratransit services all comes down to the urgency of their condition. Ambulances are essential when an accident occurs that results in serious bodily harm or when someone’s life is in danger. When you have a medical emergency, whether there has been an accident, someone is experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath, there’s been a drowning incident, or a number of other life-threatening situations arise, you need an ambulance. More importantly, you need the EMTs or Paramedics that accompany the ambulance. Trained to administer first aid on the spot and ready the patient for transportation to a hospital for further treatment, always call 911 when a medical emergency arises. An ambulance and personnel will be dispatched to your location immediately to provide crucial time-sensitive care.

Paratransit services provide reliable transportation to medical appointments for those elderly or disabled patients or those who are unable to access regular transportation, whether they cannot drive, do not own a vehicle, or do not have access to public transportation services. These services must be scheduled prior to the appointment and for some healthcare programs to cover the cost, may be restricted to eligible patients. Most vehicles are equipped with wheelchair access, ramps, or lifts to enable access to riders.

When utilizing paratransit services, routing is determined by the day’s appointments and is optimized for the best use of resources, including the type of vehicle needed to properly transport the day’s patients. This means that paratransit is a shared ride service, depending on the type of patient, care needed, and location and duration of appointments. A truly logistical endeavor, paratransit services provide freedom of mobility for its patients. Making service requests via call centers, web interfaces and even mobile apps, the use of paratransit grows with our growing aging population.

In a number of municipalities, local public transit providers offer an arm of service for those needing paratransit and who cannot navigate the ADA accessible buses typically provided on public routes. Following many of the same regulations as privately held paratransit services, this is a need-based application that offers reliable transportation to and from planned medical appointments. In some rural communities where there is no public transportation service, the local governments may contract with privately held companies to provide access to this service for their residents. 

Having reliable transportation removes many barriers to healthcare access, and by utilizing the services of a paratransit provider, patients can do their part to preserve the use of ambulances for emergency response needs. The team at MedExpress provides a number of services that have grown from our service to rural communities, providing a fleet of vehicles and personnel offering emergency medical transports and consistent, safe rides to healthcare appointments. Whether you have an immediate need or your appointments are planned in advance, MedExpress provides both ambulance and paratransit services, determining the proper type of vehicle to send based on our patient’s individual medical needs.