Last updated
VA Rideshare Program - Emergency Department Discharges
Share PrintLeverages Rideshare platforms doing a live cost comparison analysis and driver analysis increasing transportation accessibility and being cost efficient. The VHA Rideshare program also has a 24/7 customer service support center through the vendor to support the program for Veteran safety, and to provide staff immediate assistance scheduling rides.
Origin:
October 2021, Orlando VA Medical Center
Adoptions:
56 successful
Awards and Recognition:
HRO HeRO Award 2021 Q4, 2020 Innovation Tanked Award, 2022 CDCE Spirit Corporate Award, iNET Seed Investee, iNET Spread Investee
Partners:
Diffusion of Excellence, Emergency Medicine, VHA Innovators Network
Recent Updates
Overview
Problem
The VA faces the challenge of providing adequate transportation for Veterans. Challenges include local operational inefficiencies, disjointed and disparate transportation processes, missed appointments, reduced access to care, increased risk of negative health outcomes, and decreased Veteran satisfaction and trust as a result.
Slightly over 50% of Veterans ... The VA faces the challenge of providing adequate transportation for Veterans. Challenges include local operational inefficiencies, disjointed and disparate transportation processes, missed appointments, reduced access to care, increased risk of negative health outcomes, and decreased Veteran satisfaction and trust as a result.
Slightly over 50% of Veterans report transportation as a barrier to healthcare access. See more
Slightly over 50% of Veterans ... The VA faces the challenge of providing adequate transportation for Veterans. Challenges include local operational inefficiencies, disjointed and disparate transportation processes, missed appointments, reduced access to care, increased risk of negative health outcomes, and decreased Veteran satisfaction and trust as a result.
Slightly over 50% of Veterans report transportation as a barrier to healthcare access. See more
Solution
Leverage Rideshare Platforms doing a live cost comparison analysis and driver analysis increasing transportation accessibility and being cost efficient. The VHA Rideshare program also has a 24/7 customer service support center through vendor to support the program for Veteran safety, and to provide staff immediate assistance scheduling rides.
Results
Implementation at sites during the first 6 months of the project have resulted in Emergency Departments being able to provide over 500 safe transports for veterans that received care at the ED, impacting patient flow and preventing overnight bed utilization.
Metrics
- https://app.powerbigov.us/groups/me/reports/818ab5db-44ba-4950-b69a-a62365ae1e1e/ReportSection?ctid=e95f1b23-abaf-45ee-821d-b7ab251ab3bf
Diffusion tracker
Does not include Clinical Resource Hubs (CRH)
Implementation
Departments
- Social work
- Emergency care
Core Resources
| Resource type | Resource description |
|---|---|
PEOPLE |
|
Files
- Toolkit for ED Discharge Afterhours Transportation ED Afterhours Toolkit
Contact
Comment
Comments and replies are disabled for retired innovations and non-VA users.
Email visn1necieteam@va.gov with questions about this innovation.
About
Origin story
As housing cost continue to rise in the Boston area more Veterans are having to seek housing outside the city where public transportation is less accessible. In some cases where transportation is available it means having to take multiple buses and a train taking hours just to commute 10 miles. This created a huge challenge for Charles Franklin Community Emp
...
As housing cost continue to rise in the Boston area more Veterans are having to seek housing outside the city where public transportation is less accessible. In some cases where transportation is available it means having to take multiple buses and a train taking hours just to commute 10 miles. This created a huge challenge for Charles Franklin Community Employment Coordinator for the VA Boston Healthcare System in assisting low-income Veterans return to the work force with meaningful employment. So the search began to create methods for Veterans to have reliable transportation to and from work. Over the course of three years Charles Franklin tested several options, including having the employer transport Veterans from a centralized location, using volunteer drivers, and partnering with Uber and Enterprise to create a Veterans leasing program where Veterans are provided with cars and pay for the vehicle through completing rides with Uber. It was quickly realized that these were not reliable solutions to the lack of transportation, nor were they sustainable.
In 2017 Charles Franklin partnered with a non-profit that provided funding for 6 Veterans to get to and from work using ridesharing services for an entire pay period. During this pilot all 6 Veterans obtained employment and maintained employment after the rides were provided. Five Veterans continued to use ride share to get to and from work, while the 6th used their new wages to purchase their own vehicle. While Charles Franklin was excited about the results, getting funding for the project to expand in order to gauge it’s sustainability was another challenge. Fortunately In fall of 2017 Shawn Liu, Lead Program Analyst of Clinical Operations with the VHA Homeless Programs wrote a White Page article about the Ridesharing Project in Boston. The publicity from the article would prove to be the boost the project needed.
The project was finally ready in the beginning of June2019, and at that point Employment providers in both Boston and Memphis were able to start providing transportation for Veterans to get to and from work until a first paycheck was received. Since the programs launch two months ago approximately 20 Veterans have participated in the rideshare Project. As an added benefit, Veterans participating in this program have received average wages of over $20 hourly due to their ability to obtain competitive employment in locations that otherwise would not have been available to these Veterans.
Since the program has expanded to provide transportation for medical, employment, housing, and Whole Health support to all Veterans engaged with VHA Homeless Programs in all 18 VISN's and at over 140 sites.
Rideshare Program has expanded to provide transportation for Emergency Department Discharge during WHEN hours Championed out of Orlando HCS, and is currently expanding to inpatient discharge with transportation for follow up care.
Original team
Charles Franklin
Project Manager
Unfortunately the Emergency Department will lose this innovation 4/15/2023. We are not even on this list but our catchment are serves 5 locations in Virginia. Meaning when Veterans come to the ED often times from such a broad area it includes 52 cities and counties in central and southern Virginia as well as northern North Carolina. Our facilities include the Richmond VA Medical Center in Richmond, and community-based outpatient clinics in Charlottesville, Emporia, and 2 locations in Fredericksburg. Rideshare helped us IMMENSELY this past winter. It will be sorely missed.