Transportation to Mental Health Appointments

How we handle these trips

Discretion is the default. Our vehicles are marked as medical transport, not as anything more specific. The driver knows the address and the time. They are not told why you are going, because they don’t need to be.

We don’t ask. Dispatch needs the pickup, the destination, the time and the level of service. Nothing else is required and nothing else is asked.

Medication side effects are real transport issues. Several common psychiatric medications cause sedation, dizziness on standing or blurred vision, particularly when a dose is changing. Those are the weeks people most need a ride and most hesitate to ask for one.

Intensive outpatient programs are a standing-order case. Three to five days a week for six to eight weeks, same time each day. That is a schedule, and we handle it as one.

This is a covered category under Medicaid. Transport to a covered behavioral health appointment is a benefit in both Virginia and Maryland, and a lot of people who qualify don’t know it.

How the ride works

Set up a standing order rather than rebooking every week. You tell us the days, the times and the destination once. The trip stays on our schedule, and the same crews tend to see the same riders — which matters more than it sounds like it should, because a driver who has done this run before knows which door, how long the appointment really takes, and whether this rider needs the vehicle warm before they get in.

Book a return, or a call-back. Either works. For a fixed fifty-minute session, a scheduled return is usually right. For anything variable, a call-back is better.

Tell us if a family member is traveling too. They ride with you at no extra charge.

Tell us about mobility needs plainly. The level of service question is about how you move, nothing more.

What it costs

Ambulatory and wheelchair transportation round trips are $55 per leg with five miles included on each leg, plus $3 a mile beyond that. On a recurring schedule that’s the figure to plan around. Stretcher service is $230 per leg.

Our full rate card and trip estimator is published — you can work out the price before you call. Behavioral health transport is a covered category for Virginia Medicaid members: call the transportation number on your Medicaid ID card; the brokers we work with are MTM Health and SafeRide Health, and you can request H&M Transport by name. H&M Transport is not a Medicaid provider in Maryland. If you’re paying privately, the rate card applies.

What we can’t take

H&M Transport runs non-emergency medical transportation. We carry people to scheduled medical care and back home again, and the ride itself is transport rather than treatment.

That means there are trips we can’t take. We are not an ambulance service. We don’t provide medical care or monitoring on board, we don’t transport anyone to an emergency room, and we don’t move patients from one hospital to another for a higher level of care. Those are ambulance trips, and they need a crew and a vehicle equipped for them.

If this is a medical emergency, call 911.

If you’re not sure which you need, call us and describe the situation. We would rather tell you to dial 911 than send the wrong vehicle.

Common questions

What if the appointment runs long or I don’t know my return time?

Book the return as a will-call. If you can, call dispatch a little before your appointment wraps up, and we’ll start a driver your way so you wait as little as possible. If you can’t call until you’re finished, that’s fine: we’ll route the closest available driver, and our standard is to pick you up within 45 minutes of your call. The earlier you call, the shorter your wait. If you’d rather have the driver wait on site, prescheduled wait time is $75 an hour for wheelchair trips and $100 an hour for stretcher trips.

How do I ask for H&M Transport through Virginia Medicaid?

Call the transportation number on your Medicaid ID card; the brokers we work with are MTM Health and SafeRide Health. Request H&M Transport specifically when you book your ride. Covered rides to medical appointments cost the member nothing.

Can I request a female or male driver?

Yes. Ask when you book and we’ll honor it whenever a driver is available. If we can’t for a particular trip, dispatch will tell you before the ride.

Book the ride

If this is a weekly or program schedule, one call sets it up for the duration.

Call dispatch at (703) 304-7889, any hour, or start on our reservations page and we’ll call you back.

We serve Northern Virginia, Washington DC and the Maryland suburbs, and we hold WMATC authority 3449 for crossings into the District and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.