If you schedule transportation for patients, you already know the job. The ride gets booked in between six other things, the details come from three different people, and the one missing piece of information shows up when the driver is already at the door.
This guide is for case managers, discharge planners, social workers and front desk schedulers at hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities around Phoenix. It’s the list we wish every booking came with, and it makes the handoff go faster for everyone.
The basics
- Patient name and a callback number for the patient or family, if appropriate.
- Pickup location with room or unit number. “Banner Desert” gets us to the campus. “Tower 2, 4th floor, room 412” gets us to the patient.
- Destination with suite number and the name of the practice or department.
- Appointment time and check-in time. If a clinic wants the patient there 30 minutes early, book for that.
- One-way or round trip. For round trips, tell us whether the return is a set time or will-call.
- Who is paying for the ride. Saguaro is private pay and doesn’t bill insurance, so let us know whether the facility, the patient or a family member will be covering it.
Level of service
This is the part that matters most for sending the right vehicle and the right crew.
- Ambulatory: walks on their own or with a cane or walker, and can manage a step into the vehicle.
- Wheelchair: stays seated in their own wheelchair or one we provide, loaded by lift. Let us know if it’s a power chair.
- Stretcher: can’t sit upright for the length of the trip, or has orders to stay flat.
- Bariatric: tell us the patient’s approximate weight and the width of their wheelchair, if they use one, so we can send the right equipment. More on that on our bariatric transport page.
If you’re between two levels, call us. It’s better to talk it through than have a crew arrive with the wrong setup.
Clinical details worth mentioning
We’re a non-emergency service, so we’re not providing medical care on the ride. Still, a few details help us plan and keep the patient comfortable:
- Oxygen use and whether the patient will have their own portable tank. Please confirm with us ahead of time.
- Transfer needs: one-person assist, two-person assist, or a lift at the facility.
- Cognitive status. Patients with dementia may need someone to stay with them from door to door. Our post on dementia and Alzheimer’s transportation goes into more detail.
- Fall risk, weight-bearing restrictions, or anything the patient shouldn’t do on the way in or out.
- Contact precautions, if any.
Paperwork that should travel with the patient
For facility patients, send a face sheet and any orders the receiving office needs. If the patient has a DNR or an Arizona Prehospital Medical Care Directive (the orange form), send a copy with them. The receiving office or facility will want it, and it’s much easier to have it in the folder than to track it down later.
Who we call on the other end
Give us a name and direct number for someone at the receiving end, and someone at your facility for the return trip. The biggest delays on return rides happen when the clinic says the patient is ready and nobody can confirm the facility can take them back yet.
Lead time
Next-day and multi-day bookings are the easiest to fill, especially for stretcher and bariatric rides. We also take same-day requests and do our best to fit them in. Hospital discharges often come together late in the day. If there’s a chance a patient will go home tomorrow, a heads-up call today helps.
Standing orders for regular patients
If your residents go to dialysis, wound care or therapy on a regular schedule, set it up as a standing order. You book once, the rides repeat, and you just call us for changes.
Working with Saguaro
We work with skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, assisted living communities and physician offices throughout Phoenix, Tempe and the East Valley. If you’d like to set up an account for your facility or talk about recurring transport, visit our partnerships page or call (480) 857-5906.
You can also book a single ride online any time.
