Flexible schedules for patient pickup or drop-off

Product Used: Multi-Geocode API

Background

A non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) provider serves a region with multiple specialized medical facilities, such as dialysis centers, outpatient clinics, and rehabilitation centers. Many of these facilities have unique access points, such as separate entrances for wheelchair-bound patients or rear-entry doors for stretcher transport. However, these specialized access points are not reflected in standard mapping systems, making it challenging for drivers to navigate efficiently and safely when transporting patients.

Problem Statements

To ensure the timely transportation for his customers, the NEMT provider wants to solve for:

1. Unclear Facility Entrances: Many medical facilities have multiple entrances, and standard navigation systems often direct drivers to the wrong access point (e.g., the front door instead of a wheelchair-accessible side entrance), causing delays and frustration.
2. Inefficient Search Results: When drivers search for facility names or addresses, they are often directed to incorrect locations or entrances, increasing the risk of patients being late for appointments.
3. No Prioritization of Custom Locations: Without a system to prioritize custom POIs, drivers sometimes arrive at general locations instead of designated pickup/drop-off points, creating confusion and inefficiency.

Solution

NextBillion.ai Multi-Geocode API allows NEMT providers to seamlessly customize / edit places routes to suit their business operations. They can add new places and prioritize them over the standard search results enabling all stakeholders to be on the same page when planning / coordinating addresses or trips.

Add custom drop-off and pick-up points

The NEMT provider can use the Add a Place endpoint to add each medical facility to their own database, specifying important details like exact coordinates, the type of facility, and specialized access points for patient drop-off (e.g., wheelchair ramps, rear entrances for stretchers).

Prioritize custom places in search results

The NEMT providers can use the score parameter while adding or editing a place to specify a custom score for the given place. As a result, when drivers search for the facility name, the system prioritizes the results from the provider’s custom database over default search results. This ensures drivers are routed directly to the correct access point rather than relying on default map provider data, which might lead to less optimal entrances.

Sample API requests and responses

We start with adding a new place to mark the entrance for the “PIH Women Health Center” facility. Also, we add a high score so that this new place trumps the standard results when the same term is searched.

API Request for adding custom place

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curl --location 'https://api.nextbillion.io/multigeocode/place?key=<your_api_key>' \
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--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
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--data '{
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              "place": {
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                  "geopoint": {
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                      "lat": 34.053531695209905,
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                      "lng": -118.26572061653864
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                  },
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                  "country": "USA",
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                  "state": "California",
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                  "city": "Los Angeles",
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                  "district": "",
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                  "subDistrict": "",
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                  "street":"South Grand Avenue",
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                  "postalCode": "90015-3067",
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                  "house": "",
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                  "building": "Women Health Center",
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                  "poi": {
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                      "title": "PIH Women’s Health Center - Entrance"
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                  },
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                  "address":"South Tower, 1245 Wilshire Blvd SUITE 690, Los Angeles, CA 90017, United States"
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              },
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              "dataSource": {
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                  "source": "NEMT Provider 1",
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                  "refId": "150002",
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                  "status": "enable"
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              },
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              "score": 50
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            }'

API Request for searching custom place

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curl --location 'https://api.nextbillion.io/multigeocode/search?key=<your_api_key>' \
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--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
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--data '{
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        "query": "PIH Health Women’s Center",
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        "at": {
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        "lat":34.05430965743471,
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        "lng": -118.26585160289216
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        },
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        "limit": 10,
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        "radius": "2km"
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        }'

From the response to the above search request, we can observe that the custom place is prioritized over the other general results. Hence, the ability to add custom POIs and prioritizing them over general results via a dedicated database allows NEMT providers to overcome routing challenges associated with complex or specialized medical facilities enhancing driver efficiency and reducing delays for patients.