Plain English
Medical transportation glossary
Hospitals, brokers and transport companies all use their own shorthand. Here is what the words actually mean, so you can ask for exactly what your family member needs.
- NEMT
- Non-emergency medical transportation: scheduled transportation to and from healthcare for passengers who are stable and do not need emergency care or clinical treatment during the trip. Learn more
- Ambulatory transportation
- Seated transportation for a passenger who can walk to and from the vehicle, with or without a cane, walker or an arm to steady them. Learn more
- Wheelchair transportation
- Transportation in a ramp-equipped vehicle where the passenger stays in their manual wheelchair, power wheelchair or scooter and the chair is secured for the trip. Learn more
- Bariatric transportation
- Transportation using bariatric-capable equipment and additional hands-on assistance for higher-weight passengers, where standard equipment would not be appropriate. Learn more
- BRODA chair
- A tilt-in-space chair that supports a reclined, pressure-relieving seated position. It allows transportation for passengers who cannot tolerate sitting fully upright, without being an ambulance stretcher. Learn more
- Traversa / stretcher alternative
- A higher-support, reclined transport option for passengers who need more positioning support than a wheelchair provides but do not need ambulance-level care. It is a stretcher alternative, not an ambulance stretcher. Learn more
- Higher-support transportation
- Trips that need extra time, extra hands, reclined positioning or careful transfer planning while remaining fully non-emergency and non-clinical. Learn more
- Recurring transportation
- A repeating schedule of trips — dialysis, radiation, infusion or therapy series — arranged once and then run on the same pattern so the passenger is not re-booking every week. Learn more
- Travel Companion
- A specialized, secondary service where a Travel Companion accompanies a traveler for a longer journey or an appointment, providing continuity and support. Depending on what the trip calls for and availability, the companion may be a CNA, MA, or Nurse working strictly within their applicable role and scope of practice. Learn more
- Facility-to-facility transfer
- A planned, non-emergency move between two healthcare locations, such as hospital to skilled nursing or rehabilitation to home. Learn more
- Hospital discharge transportation
- A ride home or to the next care setting once a patient is cleared to leave, coordinated around the actual discharge time rather than a fixed appointment. Learn more
- Will call
- A pickup that is requested when the passenger is actually ready rather than at a pre-set time — common at discharge and after procedures that run long.
- Curb-to-curb vs door-to-door
- Curb-to-curb means meeting the passenger at the street. Door-to-door means assistance between the door and the vehicle. Presence trips are planned door-to-door where the building and passenger allow it.
Also called: non-emergency medical transportation, medical transport
Also called: walking passenger, seated ride
Also called: wheelchair van, ramp van, power chair transport
Also called: tilt-in-space chair
Also called: stretcher alternative, reclined transport chair
Also called: medically complex transport
Also called: standing order, trip series, weekly rides
Also called: medical escort, someone to fly with my mom
Presence NEMT is not an emergency ambulance service and does not provide clinical care en route. Call 911 in an emergency.
Not sure which term describes your trip?
Describe the transfer in your own words. Dispatch translates it into the right vehicle and the right level of assistance.