The latest news from home52 Transportation

Edition 1 - Winter 2021

In this issue:

The road to a better transportation system for older adults and people with disabilities
Checking in with home52 Transportation
home52 offers stretcher services
Thank you Duke Energy Foundation
City of Cincinnati Human Services Fund supports home52 Transportation
Join the home52 Transportation provider team
home52 Transportation Coordination Center team is hiring

The road to a better transportation system for older adults and people with disabilities

Council on Aging (COA) has long sought a way to improve transportation services for older adults and people with disabilities in the region. Census data and research conducted by COA revealed a growing population of older and disabled adults in our region and a lack of confidence in the region’s transportation infrastructure to meet the growing need. Add to these challenges a decades old transportation system, and COA felt the time was right to rethink how we meet the transportation needs of this growing population.

In 2019, COA received a $470,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The award was part of FTA’s Access and Mobility Partnership Grants which awarded approximately $9.6 million to 37 projects to support innovative transportation solutions to expand access to health care.

Through its subsidiary, home52, COA used this funding to develop a Transportation Coordination System that provides centrally coordinated, on-demand non-emergency medical transportation service to older adults in COA’s service area.

Called home52 Transportation, the system maximizes the efficiency of available vehicles across multiple providers and payers, while providing a higher level of support and customer satisfaction to older adults and people with disabilities in our community.

home52 Transportation's goal:To provide the right service, at the right time, while lowering cost, improving efficiency, and providing a better customer experience. The system launched in May 2021, as a pilot in the Hamilton County Elderly Services Program. Since that time, home52 has coordinated 13,133 rides.

Why COA

As the region’s Area Agency on Aging, COA’s goal is to continually identify opportunities for improvement, and to improve operations to provide the highest quality services at the lowest possible cost. COA is in a unique position to understand the challenges of serving a rapidly growing older adult population with resources that will not be able to keep up. As such, COA leverages research, best practices, and innovation to improve operations and seek more cost effective and efficient methods of meeting the needs of vulnerable people in our community.

Checking in with home52 Transportation: Learning and Growing Together

home52 Transportation has been operational for six months and has provided more than 13,000 trips for clients enrolled in the Hamilton County Elderly Services Program and FastTrack Home.

Reliable transportation is one of the most important social determinants of health for older adults and people with disabilities. Having access to reliable and appropriate transportation to medical appointments plays a significant role in improving health outcomes, lowering costs and increasing patient satisfaction. In addition, non-medical transportation for activities such as grocery shopping or accessing community resources can improve an individual’s ability to remain healthy, independent and engaged with their community.

Since launch, we've been gathering feedback from stakeholders, including providers and riders, and looking for opportunities to improve service delivery.

One of the most important lessons we've learned is that transportation coordination is a team effort. The coordination center and transportation providers must work together to ensure every rider has a pleasant, professional, timely and safe experience, starting with the request to schedule a ride, all the way through the return trip home.

"We're confident in our model, but like most new initiatives, we've already identified areas for improvement," said Judy Eschmann, Council on Aging's vice president of community and business operations.

Eschmann said home52 Transportation's biggest challenge has been getting partners to embrace the transportation management technology. Correct and consistent use of this technology is critical to providing high-quality service to our riders.

The technology allows the coordination center to track rides, know when drivers are late, communicate with customers and contact medical providers to ensure customers will still be seen. Some transportation providers have been slow to adopt this technology. This not only impacts the quality and timeliness of rides, but also increases calls to the Call Center. We're working with providers to help them learn this new technology and adapt it to their traditional methods of service delivery.

home52's riders have provided valuable feedback, helping the team identify what is and is not working. Customer feedback indicates that riders appreciate a centralized call center, as well as the opportunity to provide regular feedback about the service they receive, with the expectation that their concerns will be addressed timely.

88 percent of riders surveyed from May through October 2021 indicated the service exceeded their expectations with ratings of above average or excellent
Over 95 percent of surveyed riders stated they believe access to home52 Transportation helped improve their health outcomes
Nearly 58 percent of surveyed rides stated that had home52 not arranged transportation for them, they would have gone to the Urgent Care, Emergency Room or called 9-1-1 instead

Client Feedback

Here's what a few riders had to say about their home52 Transportation service:

"The staff from home52 Transportation called to double check the date, time and location for my scheduled rides. This was reassuring, and I appreciated the call. My two scheduled rides for Tuesday and Thursday were very smooth, I received notifications about the arrival of my rides coming and going. This was my first time using the service and it was wonderful." - Rebecca, FastTrack Home Client

"Very nice transportation, I couldn’t have asked for better service." - William, Hamilton County ESP Client

When Dolores’ doctor was running two hours behind the day of her appointment, she was concerned about her ride home with such a delay. But she was reassured by the home52 Transportation staff that a ride would be ready when her appointment was over. As promised, Dolores had transportation after the appointment and she reported that the driver was very pleasant and kind. "I’m very thankful for the service. With no family and my friends are all gone, there is no one to help with doctor appointments. Everyone was very courteous.” - Dolores, Hamilton County ESP Client

Provider Feedback

We recently spoke with Mr. Mohan, operational director at Valley Transport, about one of his driver’s Patricia. She received a positive comment from one of her recent riders. Mr. Mohan shared that Patricia has been with Valley for several years and does a great job, treating her riders as family. Mr. Mohan, shared, "The staff at Valley Transport care about the riders and treat them as family."

Mr. Mohan also commented about home52 Transportation by stating, “It’s simple, the home52 Transportation team makes it easy, they are good people."

home52 offers stretcher services

Did you know that home52 Transportation offers stretcher services?

At home52 Transportation, we match individuals with the type of transportation they need.

Duke Energy Foundation supports home52 operations

home52 Transportation would like to thank the Duke Energy Foundation for its $2,500 donation to support program operations. The donation comes as we expand transportation coordination service to new population groups. Thank you!

City of Cincinnati Human Services Fund supports home52 Transportation

home52 Transportation has been awarded $55,000 from the City of Cincinnati Human Services Fund to coordinate free non-emergency medical transportation for low-income older adults. home52 will partner with low-income senior housing units in the City of Cincinnati to coordinate transportation for residents who have barriers to appropriate transportation to meet their medical needs.

Are you interested in becoming a home52 transportation provider?

The home52 Transportation Coordination Center optimizes routes using a transportation management system; facilitates two-way communication between drivers and the call center; and dispatches and schedules rides using a network of transportation providers. No provider is too big or too small to work with us. Regardless of whether your company has one vehicle or 100 vehicles, if you have a desire to provide hands-on, door-to-door supportive assistance to older adults and disabled individuals, we are interested in working with you.

We are currently providing on-demand and advance-scheduled transportation for:

Clients enrolled in Hamilton County's Elderly Services Program (ESP) and FastTrack Home (FTH)
Patients discharging from area hospitals and skilled nursing facilities without appropriate transportation to get home
Older adults and people with disabilities who need to get to routine, follow up or same-day health care appointments
Older adults and people with disabilities who need non-medical transportation, such as to the grocery store or other activities that allow them to remain healthy, independent and connected to their communities

If you are interested in partnering with home52 Transportation, please contact Judy Eschmann at jeschmann@help4seniors.org or 513-345-8683.

Are you interested in joining the home52 Transportation Coordination Center team?

We are hiring to fill part-time positions. Do you have customer service experience? Have you worked in a call center or have dispatching or logistics experience? If you are interested in joining our team, click here to find our job postings.

About home52 Transportation

home52 Transportation is a centralized and coordinated system developed to meet the unique needs of riders who require specialized transportation services. home52 Transportation provides the right type of vehicle, at the right time, with the right support to meet an individual’s needs.

home52 is a subsidiary of Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio. Leveraging 50 years of experience, Council on Aging and home52 are experts at helping individuals, families and caregivers manage complex medical and long-term care needs. home52 offers flexible services and payment structures that align with Council on Aging’s mission to help individuals remain independent in their homes.

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