For Hospitals & Health Systems
Discharge and Transfer Transportation That Keeps Beds Turning
A nurse-owned NEMT partner for transport coordinators, discharge planners and unit staff across DFW hospitals — built around same-day discharges, after-hours coverage, mobility-matched vehicles and confirmation back to the unit.
Straight Answers
When should a unit call NEMT instead of EMS?
Call Presence NEMT once a patient is medically stable to travel and does not require active clinical intervention, cardiac monitoring, or IV medication management en route. A patient who still needs that level of care belongs with EMS or a licensed medical transport provider.
How quickly can a discharge ride be arranged?
Same-day discharge requests are handled as a priority and dispatch is staffed 24/7, but we don't quote a fixed response time — call with the room number, mobility needs and destination and dispatch will give you a real pickup estimate.
What does Presence need from the discharging unit?
The room number, the patient's mobility level, the destination, any equipment traveling with the patient such as oxygen or a wheelchair, and whether the discharge is same-day or scheduled ahead.
A Discharge Ride That Doesn't Hold a Bed Hostage
For a transport coordinator or unit nurse, a discharge order that's cleared but a patient who's still on the floor is a throughput problem, not a clinical one. Presence NEMT is a nurse-owned, locally dispatched NEMT provider built around exactly that moment — we take same-day discharge calls, confirm a pickup window, and get the patient moving toward home, skilled nursing, rehab or another facility so the bed can turn.
We work directly with case managers, discharge planners, social workers and unit staff rather than routing every request through a call center. That means a nurse can call dispatch with the room number, mobility needs and destination and get a real pickup estimate back, not a ticket number.
After-Hours and Weekend Discharges
Discharges don't stop at 5pm or on Fridays, and neither does dispatch. We're available 24/7, which matters most for the discharges that get delayed simply because transportation offices are closed — a weekend afternoon clearance, a late-evening transfer to a receiving facility, or an early-morning pickup before a unit's shift change.
If your hospital regularly sees a pattern of after-hours discharges from a particular unit, tell us during onboarding so dispatch can plan around it rather than treating each one as a surprise.
Matching the Vehicle to the Patient's Mobility Level
Give us the mobility level when the trip is requested rather than after the vehicle arrives — it's the single biggest factor in whether a discharge moves on the first try or gets rescheduled.
- Ambulatory patients who can walk to the vehicle with standby assistance
- Manual and power wheelchair users, transported with a ramp or lift and four-point securement
- Bariatric patients requiring appropriately capable vehicles and equipment
- Patients who do better in a reclined, supported position — BRODA and Traversa transport chairs are available as a stretcher alternative for positioning support
- Patients who need a companion, CNA, MA, or Nurse escort during the ride
Facility-to-Facility Transfers
Beyond discharges to a private residence, we handle transfers between levels of care — a patient moving from an acute unit to skilled nursing or inpatient rehab, or a return trip from a rehab stay back to the hospital for a follow-up. These trips often carry more equipment (oxygen, a wheelchair that stays with the patient, discharge paperwork) than a straightforward ride home, so let dispatch know what's traveling with the patient.
Where Non-Emergency Transport Ends and EMS Begins
We are not an ambulance service, and we want your unit staff to be clear on that boundary before a trip is requested. Presence NEMT is appropriate for patients who are medically stable to travel and do not require active clinical intervention, cardiac monitoring, or IV medication management en route. A patient who needs that level of care should be transported by EMS or a licensed medical transport provider equipped for it.
Our BRODA and Traversa transport chairs give a patient a reclined, supported ride when a standard wheelchair seat isn't appropriate — but they are a positioning alternative, not a stretcher or an ambulance-level capability, and our drivers are not providing clinical monitoring during transport.
Communication Back to the Unit
A discharge planner needs to know a ride is confirmed without repeatedly calling to check. We confirm pickup and arrival back to the requesting unit or coordinator, so your staff can document the discharge as complete and move on to the next patient without following up.
If your hospital wants a specific point of contact, standard reporting format, or a way to flag urgent same-day requests, we set that up during onboarding so it's consistent trip after trip rather than negotiated each time.
Recurring Outpatient Volume From the Same Hospital
Hospitals often generate a steady stream of outpatient transportation needs beyond discharge day — dialysis, oncology and infusion follow-ups, rehab and therapy visits, and return trips for imaging or specialist appointments. These can be set up as standing schedules tied to the patient rather than rebooked individually each time, which reduces the coordination load on your team over the course of a treatment plan.
Setting Up a Hospital Account
Hospitals and health systems can set up a facility account so transportation is billed to the organization rather than negotiated with the patient at the time of discharge. Onboarding covers your typical volume, how your team prefers to request trips, mobility-level documentation, and escalation contacts for urgent needs. If your organization coordinates transportation more broadly, our partnership inquiry process is the right starting point.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is this an emergency ambulance service?
- No. Presence NEMT provides non-emergency medical transportation only — no emergency response, no medical intervention, monitoring or oxygen management en route. If someone is having a medical emergency, call 911.
- Can our discharge planning team call dispatch directly instead of going through a scheduling system?
- Yes. Case managers, discharge planners, social workers and unit staff can call or text dispatch directly with the room number, mobility needs and destination.
- Do you handle same-day and after-hours discharges?
- Yes. Same-day discharge requests are routine, and dispatch is staffed 24/7 for evening, overnight and weekend discharges.
- What mobility levels can you accommodate?
- Ambulatory, manual and power wheelchair, bariatric, and patients needing a reclined, supported position via our BRODA or Traversa transport chairs, which are a stretcher alternative rather than an ambulance-level capability.
- Where's the line between your service and an ambulance transfer?
- We transport patients who are medically stable and do not require active clinical intervention, cardiac monitoring, or IV medication management during the ride. Anything beyond that belongs with EMS or a licensed medical transport provider.
- Will your driver confirm pickup and arrival back to our unit?
- Yes. We confirm pickup and arrival back to the requesting coordinator or unit so your team can close out the discharge without repeated follow-up calls.
- Can you support facility-to-facility transfers, not just discharges to home?
- Yes, including transfers to skilled nursing, rehab, or back to the hospital, along with the equipment and paperwork that travel with the patient.
- How do we set up a hospital account for billing?
- Call dispatch or submit a partnership inquiry, and we'll walk through your typical volume, request process, and billing setup during onboarding.
Coordinate a Discharge or Transfer
Call dispatch for an immediate discharge need, or start a partnership inquiry to set up a hospital account.