Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency (HIRTA) Health Connector for the Most Vulnerable: An Inclusive Mobility Experience from Beginning to End

The Health Connector solution intends to demonstrate an innovative concept that will address various bottlenecks associated with healthcare transportation access for HIRTA communities, focusing on mostly rural Dallas County, Iowa. Some of these challenges are the key reasons behind missed appointments or unacceptable levels of preventive or as-needed healthcare in the HIRTA service area. For this deployment, the HIRTA team plans to implement a scalable and replicable solution enabling inclusive access to non-emergency medical transportation for all underserved populations and their caregivers by resolving access barriers through advanced technologies. This solution will allow Dallas County residents without access to transportation who need to travel to/from a medical appointment to explore their transportation alternatives, and book both medical and transportation appointments at the same time. Further, this solution will include information and wayfinding services to guide them at every step of their trip