Priority Dispatch Corp Launches Medical Transfer Protocol SMART on FHIR App on Epic Showroom and VectorCare's Marketplace

Priority Dispatch Corp., the global leader in emergency dispatch protocol systems, has launched a SMART on FHIR application for its Medical Transfer Protocol (MTP). The app is now available in the Epic Showroom and on VectorCare's SMART on FHIR Apps Marketplace, giving health systems a way to coordinate air and ground ambulance interfacility transfers directly inside the Epic EHR. For the first time, Priority Dispatch's evidence-based triage protocols can drive resource allocation from within the clinical workflow where transfer decisions are actually made.

For hospitals still coordinating interfacility transfers through phone calls and manual processes, this changes the equation. MTP brings nearly 50 years of structured dispatch methodology into Epic itself, replacing ad hoc coordination with a standardized, protocol-driven process that ensures the right resources reach the right patients at the right time.

What the Medical Transfer Protocol Does

The Medical Transfer Protocol is the standard used by emergency communication centers worldwide to process interfacility patient transfers. Developed and validated by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED), MTP encompasses three core protocols: Protocol 45 for specialized unscheduled up-care transports when a patient needs to move to a higher acuity facility, Protocol 46 for routine scheduled interfacility transfers, and Protocol 47 for mental health transfers.

What sets MTP apart from general transportation scheduling is the clinical rigor embedded in every step. The protocol captures patient acuity, medication requirements, equipment needs, and bariatric considerations in a structured format during triage. It is also the only call-processing system that attaches ICD-10 billing codes at the dispatch level, connecting clinical documentation to the revenue cycle from the moment a transfer is initiated.

As a SMART on FHIR app, MTP now pulls patient demographics, encounter data, and clinical context directly from Epic through FHIR APIs. Transfer center coordinators, hospitalists, and care teams can initiate and manage the full transfer workflow without leaving the EHR. The triage details captured during the protocol are automatically documented in the patient's chart, reducing follow-up calls to facilities and easing pressure on billing departments.

Why Protocol-Driven Transfers Matter

Interfacility transfers are one of the highest-risk, least-standardized processes in hospital operations. A patient moving from a community hospital to a Level I trauma center involves clinical handoffs, transport logistics, insurance authorization, and time-sensitive decision making. When that process runs on phone calls and institutional memory, things fall through.

MTP removes the variability. Every transfer follows the same evidence-based decision tree, regardless of who is coordinating it or what shift they are on. The protocol captures the right clinical information upfront, matches it to the appropriate transport modality — whether ground ambulance, air ambulance, or specialty transport — and creates a complete record. For hospitals managing dozens of transfers daily, that consistency compounds into measurable improvements in safety, speed, and documentation quality.

"The Medical Transfer Protocol has long been the gold standard for ensuring that interfacility transfers are triaged accurately, resourced appropriately, and documented completely," said Chris Murdock, President of Priority Dispatch Corp. "By launching our MTP SMART on FHIR app in the Epic Showroom and on VectorCare's marketplace, we are extending the power of structured, protocol-based dispatch directly into the clinical environment where transfer decisions are made. This integration eliminates workflow gaps and ensures that patient acuity data drives resource allocation from the very first moment a transfer is initiated."

Built on VectorCare's SoFaaS™ Platform

The MTP SMART on FHIR app was built on VectorCare's SoFaaS™ (SMART on FHIR as a Service) platform, which provides the infrastructure layer that handles the application framework, security and compliance requirements, EHR deployment, and ongoing operational support. Priority Dispatch maintains full ownership of their protocol, their clinical methodology, and their customer relationships. VectorCare provides the technical foundation that gets MTP inside the EHR.

This is the same model that brought the Lyft SMART on FHIR app and the AmericaWest Medical Transportation app into Epic. VectorCare operates as the rails, not the train. Partners like Priority Dispatch bring deep domain expertise and decades of clinical research. VectorCare makes it possible for that expertise to live natively inside the clinical workflow.

"Priority Dispatch's Medical Transfer Protocol represents a fundamentally different approach to interfacility transport coordination — one grounded in decades of clinical research and protocol development," said a VectorCare spokesperson. "Bringing MTP into the Epic workflow through our SMART on FHIR marketplace gives health systems access to a level of dispatch intelligence and billing integration that simply didn't exist inside the EHR before."

A Growing Marketplace

The MTP app joins a growing ecosystem of SMART on FHIR applications on VectorCare's marketplace. Each new app expands the range of services health systems can access from within Epic without custom integrations, separate vendor portals, or additional logins. Transportation, transfer coordination, and logistics services are converging inside the EHR, and the marketplace is where that convergence is happening.

For health systems, the value is straightforward. Every service that moves inside Epic is one fewer phone call, one fewer manual entry, and one fewer opportunity for a handoff to break down. For partners like Priority Dispatch, the marketplace provides distribution to Epic-connected health systems that would otherwise require months of individual integration work.

What Comes Next

The Medical Transfer Protocol SMART on FHIR app is available now in the Epic Showroom and on VectorCare's SMART on FHIR Apps Marketplace at vectorcare.com/smart-on-fhir-apps. Health systems using Epic can deploy the app within their environment and begin running protocol-driven interfacility transfers directly from the EHR.

For healthcare vendors and service organizations interested in launching their own SMART on FHIR applications, learn more about VectorCare's SoFaaS™ platform at vectorcare.dev.