The Three Levels of NEMT Service
When you book non-emergency medical transportation in New Jersey, you are booking both a vehicle and a level of service. Understanding the three main service levels ensures you receive the assistance you actually need.
Curb-to-Curb Service
What it is: The driver picks you up at the curb outside your home and drops you at the curb at the destination. The driver does not enter your home or the medical facility.
Who it is for: Ambulatory patients who can independently get from inside their home to the vehicle, and from the vehicle into the medical facility. This is appropriate for patients with limited mobility impairments who simply cannot drive but can otherwise move independently.
Cost: The least expensive service level and the default for many Medicaid NEMT dispatches for ambulatory patients.
Door-to-Door Service
What it is: The driver comes to your door and escorts you to the vehicle, then from the vehicle to the entrance of the medical facility.
Who it is for: Patients who need physical assistance from their front door to the vehicle — patients using walkers, wheelchair users who need the driver to push from the building entrance, or patients who are unsteady due to age or medications. Medicaid authorizes this when the patient's condition warrants it.
Door-Through-Door Service
What it is: The driver escorts you from inside your home, through the building, to the vehicle, then from the vehicle through the facility entrance to the check-in desk or waiting area.
Who it is for: Patients who need continuous assistance from inside their residence to inside the facility. This includes patients who live alone and cannot safely navigate to the curb, patients with dementia who cannot wait at a door safely, and hospital discharge patients who need maximum support.
Cost: The most time-intensive service level; Medicaid may cover it with appropriate physician documentation.
How to Request the Right Level
When booking NEMT, always specify the level of assistance you need. Common mistakes include booking curb-to-curb when you actually need door-to-door, or not mentioning that you live in a multi-floor building without an elevator.
At Delta Medical Transportation, we provide all three levels of service throughout New Jersey. Our dispatchers ask the right questions to ensure the correct service level is assigned. Book with us or call (973) 389-3110.