Whether it’s a hospital case manager, insurance provider, or individual looking for air medical transport, they each look at three main factors: cost savings, logistics, and security of the patient. In this post, we’ll compare these three important factors for commercial air medical transports vs. private medical flights.
Cost Savings
Commercial air medical transports are much more cost effective, as the patient and medical escort team pay the same airfare as any other traveler. There may be small fees to accommodate additional medical equipment or luggage, but these fees are standardized, and in some cases, discounted when flying with the airlines SenitnelMED frequently works with for medical transports. Private air flights can cost anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Logistics
Commercial air medical transports can fly longer than most air ambulances and therefore can accommodate direct routes. The flight plans are published and known months in advance. This allows for plenty of time to map ideal routes and define a detailed itinerary. In addition, commercial air flights can accommodate larger medical escort teams and a wide array of medical equipment. Plus, their sheer size means that they have enough fuel to fly 12 or more hours at a time.
Private air jets are able to create their own flight plans. This means that they can travel to smaller cities where commercial airlines would not be able to land. But these smaller aircraft have very limited space for a medical escort team and medical equipment. For patients that require a larger medical escort team or larger medical equipment, private air jets may have logistical limitations. Those limitations are even greater with private air helicopters. Air ambulances are also subject to restrictions on fuel, leaving only small windows of four hour flight times.
Security
The security with commercial air lines is very strict, especially in the United States and other first-world countries. Every passenger’s security is top priority, whether the traveler is a patient or ordinary business class traveler, every traveler is subject to the same security checks.
Arrange an Affordable Commercial Air Medical Transport
SentinelMED is a medical travel assistance company that knows the ins and outs of commercial air medical transports. Our team of qualified logistics and medical professionals are able to determine the appropriate form of affordable medical transportation service and help manage the process from end-to-end. We understand the complexity of delivering exceptional care to the sick, elderly or injured patient in an unfamiliar environment. Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about our services and staff.
