Ambulance Services

Ambulance Services

Brief Excerpt from Industry Overview Chapter:

Companies in this industry transport patients by ground or air and provide emergency or other medical care. Major companies include Acadian Ambulance Service, American Medical Response, and ModivCare (all based in the US), as well as Falck (Denmark), Harmonie Ambulance (France), and Lufftransport (Norway).

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Increases in immigration, birth rates, morbidity rates, and life expectancies, as well as emergency medical events, drive demand for ambulance services. The profitability of individual companies depends on quick and effective response and operational efficiency. Large companies have advantages of scale in contract negotiations, service capabilities, technology, and geographic coverage. Small companies can compete effectively by providing superior service in specific locales. The US industry is concentrated: the 50 largest companies generate about 60% of revenue.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

The industry's major service is medical transport of patients, which includes surface ambulance emergency services (65% of industry revenue), surface ambulance non-emergency services (about 20%), and air ambulance emergency services and rotary wing air ambulance emergency services (each accounting 10%). Emergency calls often require medical assistance, while nonemergency services include transportation for medically unstable patients and transfers between health care facilities. More than one-third of ambulance establishments are not-for-profit entities.