Relationships With Referral Personnel
It is not uncommon for neonatal-pediatric transport teams to coordinate patient care and transfer. Referral personnel and organizations can benefit from development of a professional working relationship with the receiving facility.
It is not uncommon for facilities to refer patients because of managed care contracts. Transport teams can collaborate to facilitate transfer of patients to appropriate levels of care. It can be cost-effective for teams to work together when providing staff education opportunities and periodic tabletop transfer scenario drills.Teams that perform only ground transports should develop a strong working relationship with services that provide rotor- and fixed-wing transports (and vice versa). This relationship will allow for optimal coordination of transport efforts when requests for critically ill children are time-sensitive or involve long distances. Patient transport care and options should not be limited to the services provided by a local or preferred vendor or service if that vendor or service has a limited array of transport staffing or transportation mode alternatives.