Essential Rural Medical Air Transport Pilot Services

The vendor is required to provide that services to develop and execute a coordination system for nonemergency medical air transportation
essential rural medical air transport pilot project services to establish and administer a pilot project to develop and execute a coordination system of the for the purpose of flying lanai and residents to other islands for routine healthcare appointments and flying healthcare providers to lanai and to treat patients.
- This request for proposal consists of two, separate projects:
- The provider shall perform the following tasks:
• Review and make recommendations toward the eligibility criteria and pilot project challenges established by agency.
• Develop a detailed scope of service deliverables plan and timeline affecting:
o Passenger prioritization:
- Patients: Develop categories to prioritize who will be issued a plane seat when the demand for plane seats exceeds the supply. categories may be based on demographics, health insurance coverage, or needs based, i.e., seriousness of the illness to be treated.
- To maintain fairness of this pilot project, patients shall be prioritized by case and not on personal relationships.
o Flight requests:
- Develop a periodic flight schedule based on airlines’ flight availabilities to best coordinate transportation to match healthcare appointments and requirements of health plans, and healthcare providers and facilities. items to include but are not limited to days, times, and destinations of round-trip flights. suggested formats include priority color codes and 80% of requests to be reserved for appointments scheduled in advance and 20% of requests to be reserved for appointments for patients with immediate healthcare needs.
- Establish procedures on how flight requests are made from the travel navigators to the coordinator to include but are not limited to 1) establishing a timeframe in which flight requests are made, e.g., 3 weeks to 1 month in advance; 2) notifying travel navigators of empty plane seats on chartered flights that are available to eligible participants; 3) establishing procedures for contacting the coordinator and contingency plans when flights or appointments are delayed or cancelled.
- Establish procedures for patients in need of self-referred services and who have health plans, such as dental, optometry, etc., to request a flight through this pilot project.
- Develop a confidential data collection system to gauge responsiveness to the pilot project. suggested information to collect includes but is not limited to 1) date coordinator was contacted to request a flight; 2) appointment date; 3) dates of flight departure and return; 4) name, age, zip code of resident; 5) companion name, if applicable; 6) specific reason for companion accompanying patient; 7) reason for flight request, specifying type of provider appointment for patients if applicable; 8) names of health plan and referring and referred providers; 9) names of visiting provider and healthcare facility in which care is provided; 10) name of airline and cost of chartered flights or reserved seats; 11) flight reimbursement eligibility and dollar amount; 12) date(s) flight was confirmed and information relayed to the resident’s travel navigation team; 13) date(s) of appointment or flight delays and/or cancellations, when applicable; 14) reasons for appointment or flight delays and/or cancellations; and 15) why patients were prioritized to fly based on prioritization criteria established.
o Reimbursements:
- Identify healthcare facilities, health plans, government and non-profit agencies, etc. who pay for or reimburse residents and visiting providers for non-medical air transportation.
- Establish procedures, requirements, and agreements with these entities to collect reimbursements when residents and visiting providers utilize services to replenish funding that will provide more flights to patients and visiting providers.
o Inter-island airlines:
- Identify airline passenger restrictions and guidelines and establish agreements with airlines who are federally and state-approved to fly within the state.
- Identify airlines who offer corporate accounts, voucher plans, and free seats to travel companions to extend funds to provide services to more eligible participants.
- Establish charter flights’ bidding process to ensure competition between eligible airlines for most cost-effective airfare.
- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Non-Mandatory Pre-Proposal Conference Date: February 04, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: February 19, 2025