title: Getting from here to there: evaluating West Virginia's rural nonemergency medical transportation program.
abstract: With funding from the 21st Century Challenge Fund, the West Virginia Rural Health Access Program created Transportation for Health, a demonstration project for rural nonemergency medical transportation. The project was implemented in 3 sites around the state, building on existing transportation systems--specifically, a multicounty transit authority, a joint senior center/transit system, and a senior services center. An evaluation of the project was undertaken to answer 3 major questions: (1) Did the project reach the population of people who need transportation assistance? (2) Are users of the transportation project satisfied with the service? (3) Is the program sustainable? Preliminary results from survey data indicate that the answers to questions 1 and 2 are affirmative. A break-even analysis of all 3 sites begins to identify programmatic and policy issues that challenge the likelihood of financial sustainability, including salary expenses, unreimbursed mileage, and reliance on Medicaid reimbursement.
authors.affiliation: West Virginia Institute for Health Policy Research, 3110 MacCorkle Ave, SE, Charleston, WV 25302, USA. gbellamy@hsc.wvu.edu
authors.forename: Gail R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Bellamy
authors.forename: Kendall
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.forename: Sally K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Raymond L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Goldsteen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods*; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014903:West Virginia