Cut Out the Broker, Power Down the Fax

The broker and fax model coordinates medical transport through a third-party middleman and paper fax, with no real-time visibility for the care team — and it's ending. Direct, EHR-native scheduling removes the middleman, and CMS is phasing out fax-based exchange by 2028.

What the middleman costs

In the broker model, a hospital requests transport, a broker assigns a vendor, and confirmations move by phone and fax. Each hop adds delay and subtracts visibility.

• No real-time status. Once the request leaves the building, the care team can't see whether a ride is assigned, en route, or lost.
• A coordination tax. The broker is an extra layer between the people who need the ride and the people providing it — added cost, not added clarity.
• Paper dependency. Fax confirmations are slow, easy to lose, and impossible to track inside the chart.

For a workflow where minutes determine whether a bed turns over, a model built on opacity is a structural liability.

The regulatory tailwind

This isn't only a software preference — the ground is moving. CMS is phasing out fax-based data exchange by 2028, pushing the industry toward connected, real-time interoperability. The broker and fax stack is being deprecated by policy as much as by product.

What replaces it

Direct, EHR-native scheduling collapses the chain. The care team books the appropriate transport from the chart, the vendor receives it directly, and status flows back into the record.

• No broker layer between request and vendor.
• No fax — orders and confirmations live in the chart.
• Live visibility the whole care team can see.
• Booking in about a minute versus roughly 31 by phone or fax.

"Cut out the brokers, power down the fax" isn't a slogan — it's where interoperability rules and operational reality are both heading.

Schedule transport without the middleman. Request a demo.

Related reading

Start with the pillar on why patient logistics belongs inside the EHR, then see how transportation drives discharge delays and bed-days.

Frequently asked questions

What is the broker and fax model in NEMT?

A coordination model where a third-party broker assigns transport vendors and confirmations move by phone and fax, leaving the care team without real-time visibility.

Is CMS phasing out fax?

CMS is moving the industry off fax-based data exchange by 2028 in favor of real-time interoperability.

What replaces broker and fax coordination?

Direct, EHR-native scheduling that books transport from the chart, sends it to the vendor without a middleman, and returns live status to the record.