What is non-medical transport?
Non-medical transport is a scheduled ride for someone who needs to reach a health-related appointment but does not need clinical care during the trip. It is also called NEMT, short for non-emergency medical transportation. The vehicle is a regular passenger vehicle, and the driver's job is transportation: pickup at the door, a route to the hospital or clinic entrance, and in many cases a return trip once the appointment is over.
The word medical in the name describes the reason for the trip, not what happens inside the car. Nobody is treated, monitored or given oxygen on the way. That is the whole point of the category: most people heading to dialysis, physical therapy, an eye exam or a discharge do not need an ambulance. They need a ride they can plan around and, sometimes, a hand between the lobby and the curb.
Non-medical transport vs. an ambulance: what is the difference?
The difference is medical care, not vehicle comfort. An ambulance carries clinical staff and equipment for a passenger whose condition could change on the road. Non-medical transport carries a stable passenger who simply needs to get from one address to another at a known time. If a situation is an emergency, the number is 911 — a scheduled car is never the right call.
- Ambulance: clinical staff and medical equipment on board, for emergencies or for patients who must be monitored in transit.
- Non-medical transport: a regular passenger vehicle, no clinical care on board, arranged around an appointment time.
- Ambulance: dispatched when you call 911 or when a hospital arranges it for you.
- Non-medical transport: you book it yourself, by app or phone, the way you would book any car service.
- Both can move a passenger who uses a wheelchair, but only non-medical transport is designed for routine, planned trips.
Who uses non-medical transport in New York City?
The typical passenger is someone who cannot drive to the appointment and for whom the subway or a bus is not realistic that day. That is a long list in the five boroughs: dialysis patients who travel three mornings a week, people told not to drive after an eye procedure, seniors who use a walker, someone being discharged after outpatient surgery, and family members escorting a relative to a specialist in another borough.
Geography does a lot of the work here. New York City has a deep subway network, but it is uneven: parts of Staten Island, eastern Queens and the northeast Bronx are far from a station, and many hospital campuses sit several blocks from the nearest entrance — a distance that is nothing on a good day and impossible on a bad one. Weather counts too. A February morning with ice on the sidewalk turns a two-block walk into a reason to book a car.
- Dialysis and infusion patients with a fixed weekly schedule.
- Passengers discharged after outpatient surgery who are not allowed to travel alone.
- Older adults going to routine checkups, with or without a companion.
- Wheelchair users who need a ramp-equipped vehicle rather than a standard car.
- Anyone crossing boroughs for a specialist appointment where the trip involves two or three transfers.
Which vehicle do you need: sedan, SUV or wheelchair van?
Answer three questions and the vehicle picks itself. Can the passenger walk to the curb and sit in a normal seat? A sedan works. Is there a walker, a folding chair, a companion and a bag? An SUV is easier to load and easier to get in and out of. Does the passenger stay in their wheelchair for the whole trip? That is a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, or WAV, and it has to be requested by name when booking.
- Sedan: one or two passengers, light bags, no mobility equipment beyond a cane.
- SUV: a walker or folding wheelchair, a companion, or a passenger who finds a higher seat easier to enter.
- WAV: the passenger boards by ramp and stays seated in their own wheelchair, secured for the ride.
- Black car: the same trip in a more formal vehicle, when the appointment runs into a work day.
How do you book non-medical transport in NYC?
You book it the same way you book any car service: through the Ready Go USA app for iOS and Android, by phone at 212-448-1088 or 917-562-8568, or over WhatsApp. Scheduled reservations run Monday through Saturday, which matters for recurring appointments — a standing dialysis or therapy schedule is worth setting up in one conversation instead of rebooking it trip by trip.
The information you give when booking is what makes the pickup go smoothly. Large New York hospital campuses have several entrances, and the difference between the main lobby and the ambulatory-care door can be a long walk for a passenger who has just been discharged. Say which entrance, not just which hospital.
- The full pickup address, including apartment, floor and which entrance or side street to use.
- The destination with the department or building name, not only the hospital name.
- The appointment time, so the pickup can be planned backwards from it.
- Whether there is a return trip, and roughly when the appointment should end.
- Mobility needs: walker, folding chair, wheelchair that stays with the passenger, oxygen tank being carried by the passenger.
- Whether a companion is coming, since that changes the vehicle.
What to have ready before the ride
Two things save the most time on the day of the trip: the exact entrance and a phone that is on. Almost every delay in this kind of trip comes from a driver and a passenger standing at two different doors of the same building. Confirming the meeting point by phone or message before the car arrives solves it in thirty seconds.
- A charged phone with the number you gave when booking.
- The appointment paperwork or confirmation, in case reception asks for it.
- Mobility equipment ready at the door rather than in another room.
- A companion briefed on the return plan, if the passenger may be groggy after the appointment.
- A note of the building entrance the clinic actually uses for arrivals.
Who pays for a non-medical transport ride?
With Ready Go USA, the person who books the ride pays directly. The company does not bill insurance, Medicaid or Medicare and does not act as a broker for any health plan. The fare is quoted in the app or over the phone before the trip, so nobody finds out the cost at the end of the ride.
Separately, part of the non-medical transport world in the United States is arranged through public programs and the transportation brokers they contract. If you think you qualify for that kind of benefit, that is a process you handle with that program directly — it is a different channel and has nothing to do with booking a car here. A trip booked with Ready Go USA is a private, self-paid ride.