NEMT auto-scheduling: tomorrow's schedule, built for you
Duet's auto-scheduler builds the day's complete schedule for you, assigning every trip to a vehicle and driver based on trip times, each rider's mobility type, travel time, and load and unload time. The evening of scheduling by hand goes away. Want to change anything? Drag the trip to another vehicle on the dispatch board. It's part of Duet's NEMT software, not an add-on.
By James O'Donnell, Cofounder and COO, Duet · Updated
Tomorrow's schedule eats tonight
In most NEMT companies, the next day gets built by hand the night before. Someone sits with the trip list and the vehicle list and places rides one at a time: this wheelchair trip on this van, that dialysis run after it, and the stretcher transfer on whichever crew can reach the hospital in time. On a busy board it takes the evening, and as the fleet grows it turns into someone's whole job.
Every one of those placements depends on the same handful of facts: when the rider needs to be there, what vehicle they need, how long the drive takes, and how long it takes to get them in and out. That's work software does well.
Duet's auto-scheduler builds the whole day, so your dispatcher's evening goes back to the phones, the drivers, and the trips that need a person.
What is NEMT auto-scheduling?
NEMT auto-scheduling is software that assigns a day's trips to vehicles and drivers for you, instead of a dispatcher placing every trip by hand. A good auto-scheduler accounts for the things that make NEMT scheduling hard: appointment times, the vehicle each rider's mobility needs call for, how long the drives take, and how long it takes to load and unload a rider.
Duet's auto-scheduler builds the schedule right on the dispatch board your team already works from. The day is ready before the first driver clocks in, and any change is a drag and drop.
How does Duet's auto-scheduler work?
Duet's auto-scheduler takes every trip on your dispatch board for the day and assigns each one to a vehicle and driver. Your dispatcher can move any trip with a drag and drop, and each driver's day shows up in the driver app. Step by step:
The trips are on the board
Calls, the website form, the facility portal, broker imports, and recurring trips all land on the same dispatch board.
Run the auto-scheduler
Duet builds the day: every trip assigned to a vehicle and driver, from trip times, mobility type, travel time, and load and unload time.
Fine-tune with drag and drop
Want a trip on a different vehicle? Drag it to that vehicle's column on the dispatch board. That's the whole adjustment.
Drivers get their day
Each driver's trips show up in the driver app, in order, ready for the morning.
What does the auto-scheduler take into account?
Duet's auto-scheduler builds the day from trip times, each rider's mobility type, travel time, and load and unload time, plus a few settings you can adjust to fit how you run:
Trip times
Every pickup and appointment time for the day, so riders get where they need to be when they need to be there.
Mobility type
Wheelchair, stretcher, or ambulatory. Each rider's mobility needs are part of how the schedule gets built.
Travel time
How long the drives take, from the same drive-time estimates your dispatch board shows on every trip.
Load and unload time
The minutes it takes to get a rider in and out of the vehicle, so the schedule accounts for the part of the trip that isn't driving.
Settings you can tune
A few settings you can adjust so the schedule fits the way your operation runs.
How do you adjust the schedule?
With drag and drop. Every vehicle has its own column on Duet's dispatch board, and moving a trip from one vehicle to another is a drag. A driver calls out, a facility adds a same-day discharge, or you want a driver's lunch break to land near their next pickup: move the trips and the day is set.
Trips that come in after the schedule is built sit in the unassigned list next to the board. Tick them, choose a vehicle, and they're on the schedule.
The dispatch board itself, including the live map and drive-time estimates, is covered on the NEMT dispatch software page.
From the schedule to the driver's phone
The auto-scheduler works on the same trip record as everything else in Duet. Trips come in through every booking channel and broker imports, the schedule gets built and adjusted on the board, and the day shows up in the driver app as each driver's trips, in order.
Running several riders in one vehicle at the same time? Duet supports that too. See multi-loading.
What does NEMT auto-scheduling cost?
With Duet, nothing extra. The auto-scheduler is part of the software, not a paid module. Duet is free for providers running fewer than 100 trips a month and usage-based after that. Most providers pay less than $50 per active vehicle per month, with no per-vehicle license fee and no setup fee, month-to-month.
Full software and services pricing lives on the pricing page.
Auto-scheduling questions, answered
Does Duet schedule NEMT trips automatically?
Yes. Duet's auto-scheduler builds the day's schedule for you, assigning every trip to a vehicle and driver based on trip times, each rider's mobility type, travel time, and load and unload time. Want to change something? Drag the trip to another vehicle on the dispatch board.
What does the auto-scheduler take into account?
Trip times, each rider's mobility type (wheelchair, stretcher, or ambulatory), the travel time for each drive, and the time it takes to load and unload each rider. A few settings let you tune it to the way your operation runs.
Can I change the schedule after the auto-scheduler builds it?
Yes, with drag and drop. Every vehicle has its own column on the dispatch board, and moving a trip to another vehicle is a drag. Trips that come in later sit in the unassigned list next to the board, where you tick them and choose a vehicle.
Do I have to use the auto-scheduler?
No. It's there when you want it. Dispatchers who prefer to build some days by hand can assign trips from the unassigned list and arrange them on the board the same way.
Does the auto-scheduler cost extra?
No. It's part of Duet's standard NEMT software, with every other feature. The software is free under 100 trips a month and usage-based after that, and most providers pay less than $50 per active vehicle per month. Details are on the pricing page.
The rest of the platform
Every feature here is one system: one login, one dispatch board, one monthly bill.
See everything the software does side by side — or how the growth team fills the schedule the software runs.
Watch the auto-scheduler build a real day
Book a 30-minute demo and we'll run the auto-scheduler on a real day of trips, then show you how easy it is to fine-tune with drag and drop.
Free for providers under 100 trips a month. No contracts. Questions? Call (650) 780-3465 and you'll get a founder, not a call center.