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VBC Corner: K.C. Kanaan, Co-Founder and CEO of Envoy America.

Summary

In this episode of the Value-Based Care Corner, John P. Carter sits down with K.C. Kanaan, Co-Founder and CEO of Envoy America, to discuss why transportation should be viewed as part of the healthcare infrastructure rather than simply an ancillary service.

K.C. explains how transportation can affect nearly every stage of the patient journey, from getting patients to scheduled appointments and recurring treatments to supporting timely hospital discharges and transitions into post-acute care. When transportation is delayed or unavailable, the effects can extend beyond the patient experience to missed appointments, longer hospital stays, reduced bed capacity, staff burden, and delayed admissions. For ACOs, health systems, medical groups, and health plans taking greater accountability for outcomes and total cost of care, K.C. argues that transportation should be considered across the broader continuum of care.

John and K.C. also explore the business case for healthcare organizations taking a more active role in transportation. K.C. shares examples from capitated population health arrangements, dialysis centers, hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities where organizations have invested directly in transportation to improve access and patient flow. The conversation also examines how Envoy America uses routing technology, AI, telematics, and centralized operations to improve on-time performance and efficiency while maintaining the human support needed for patients who may require wheelchairs, stretchers, oxygen, or additional assistance.

Key Takeaways

  • Transportation can directly affect access to care, hospital discharge, patient throughput, post-acute transitions, and the ability to keep scheduled appointments.
  • ACOs, health systems, medical groups, and health plans can benefit from treating transportation as part of the care continuum rather than an afterthought.
  • Investing directly in transportation may create value through faster discharges, improved bed availability, fewer missed appointments, reduced staff burden, and more reliable access to care.
  • Transportation can be particularly important in value-based and capitated models where keeping patients healthy and connected to appropriate services has implications for both outcomes and financial performance.
  • Coordination between hospitals and post-acute providers can create shared incentives to solve transportation challenges and improve transitions between care settings.
  • Technology can improve routing, scheduling, vehicle utilization, safety, and on-time performance, while human involvement remains important for supporting patients with more complex transportation needs.

What You’ll Learn

03:31 – Why transportation should be viewed as part of the healthcare infrastructure and its impact on hospital capacity, post-acute transitions, and patient flow
06:48 – How healthcare leaders can evaluate the ROI of transportation beyond the immediate cost of providing a ride
09:32 – Where transportation creates value for ACOs, capitated models, dialysis providers, and other organizations responsible for patient outcomes
15:48 – How technology, AI, routing, and centralized operations can improve transportation efficiency while maintaining a human element
21:16 – Why healthcare organizations should make transportation a strategic part of the care model rather than relying on it as a bolt-on service