AI IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP
Strategic Framework for Operational Efficiency
Prepared for: MED LIFT / EVERYDAY TAXI
Prepared by: Dr. Elisa Janson Jones | Sovereign+
Executive Summary
Med Lift has built a reputation on what most transportation companies neglect: genuine care for the people you serve. Your door-to-door service model and personable approach have created loyal clients who stay with you because they feel valued, not just transported.
But that same commitment to service excellence is being undermined by a back-office reality: Medicaid billing and invoice reconciliation consume hours that should be spent growing the business and serving clients. The paperwork bottleneck isn't just frustrating—it's limiting your capacity to take on more contracts and scale what's working.
This roadmap takes a billing-first approach. We're not adding complexity. We're eliminating the administrative friction that keeps you from the growth you're ready for. Within your $1,000–$2,500 budget, you can deploy AI strategically across three domains: billing verification, contract acquisition, and customer communication.
The goal: Reclaim 10–15 hours per week from billing tasks, use that time to pursue 3–5 new facility contracts, and establish systems that scale as you grow.
Strategic Analysis
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Med Lift operates as a Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) provider and taxi service, generating $100K–$500K annually over 2.75 years of operation. The organizational structure is lean: you handle invoicing, credentialing, marketing, training, and hiring while Melissa manages scheduling and Medicaid billing.
This structure creates both efficiency and vulnerability. Every hour you spend on billing reconciliation is an hour not spent on contract development or operational oversight. The audit reveals a clear priority stack:
Billing and reconciliation — the primary time sink and frustration source
Contract acquisition — the path to growth that billing blocks
Cash flow from delayed insurance payments — a downstream effect of billing inefficiency
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Service differentiation: Door-to-door service in a curb-to-curb industry creates genuine competitive advantage
Client retention: "Once clients ride with us, they typically stay with us" — this is the foundation for growth
Local positioning: National NEMT chains can't match the personalized care you provide
AI readiness: You're already using ChatGPT and Gemini for marketing content — comfort level is higher than you might think
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Manual billing verification: Every trip requires paperwork checking before Medicaid submission
Disconnected systems: Route Genie, GoDaddy, and other tools operate in silos
Reactive contract development: No systematic outreach to potential facility partners
Incomplete SOPs: Some processes documented, others running on institutional knowledge
Strategic Goals
Based on your stated priorities and the operational realities revealed in the audit, this roadmap pursues three interconnected goals:
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Target: Reduce time spent on billing verification and reconciliation by 60%
The current process requires checking all paperwork manually before Medicaid submission. We'll deploy AI to pre-screen trip documentation for completeness, flag discrepancies before they become rejections, and create reconciliation summaries that take minutes instead of hours.
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Target: Identify and pursue 10+ qualified facility prospects per month
Growth requires contracts. Contracts require outreach. Outreach requires time you don't currently have. By recovering billing hours, you can redirect that capacity toward systematic facility prospecting—with AI assisting in research, outreach drafting, and follow-up tracking.
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Target: Document and systematize core processes for scale-readiness
As you add contracts and trip volume, the informal processes that work now will break. This roadmap includes building AI-assisted standard operating procedures that capture your institutional knowledge and make it transferable to future team members.
Implementation Framework
This roadmap uses the C.A.L.M. AI Navigator™ framework: Clarity, Alignment, Leverage, and Manifest. Each phase builds on the previous, ensuring we solve the right problems before deploying tools.
Phase 1: Clarity (Week 1–2)
Before automating anything, we need to understand exactly where time disappears.
Phase 2: Alignment (Month 1)
Deploy your first AI assistant: the Billing Verification Helper.
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This custom ChatGPT or Claude assistant will be trained on Medicaid NEMT billing requirements for your state. It will:
Pre-screen trip documentation checklists before you review them
Flag missing signatures, incomplete forms, or inconsistent information
Generate daily summaries of trips ready for billing vs. trips needing attention
Create reconciliation reports comparing submitted invoices to payments received
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Export sample trip data and documentation from Route Genie
Work with Sovereign+ to build custom billing verification prompts
Test the assistant on 20 trips, comparing its flags to your manual review
Refine prompts based on accuracy, then deploy for daily use
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ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription: $20-100/month
Custom GPT development (Sovereign+ support): Included in Trailblazer program
Phase 3: Leverage (Months 2–3)
With billing time recovered, redirect capacity toward growth.
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Your second AI helper focuses on contract acquisition:
Research facility contacts (dialysis centers, skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, clinics)
Draft personalized outreach emails emphasizing your door-to-door differentiator
Generate follow-up sequences based on responses
Create one-page capability summaries tailored to each facility type
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Handle the most common inquiries without losing your personal touch:
"Do we accept Medicaid?" — Yes, with details on how to access services
Trip scheduling assistance and confirmation messages
Service area and availability responses
Professional email templates that maintain your personable voice
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Ongoing subscription: $20-100/month (same ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro account)
Optional: Upgrade GoDaddy chatbot integration — evaluate existing vs. enhanced options
Phase 4: Manifest (Months 4–6)
Systematize for scale.
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Track time spent on each billing sub-task for one week (receiving trip data, verifying paperwork, entering into system, reconciling payments)
Identify the three most common reasons for Medicaid claim rejections or delays
Document the current Route Genie workflow step-by-step
Calculate: What is one billing hour worth in terms of trips you could be adding?
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List all facilities currently under contract and their trip volume
Identify 20 potential facility prospects within your service area
Note which insurance providers you're already credentialed with
Deliverable: A one-page summary showing exactly where billing time goes and which facility types represent the best growth opportunities.
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Use AI to document and formalize your operational knowledge:
Complete driver training documentation
Credentialing process step-by-step guide
New contract onboarding checklist
Billing exception handling procedures
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You mentioned data lives in Route Genie but isn't organized for decision-making. This phase includes:
Creating a simple dashboard to track trips completed, revenue by facility, and payment status
Setting up monthly reporting templates that take 15 minutes instead of hours
Identifying which insurance providers pay fastest (useful for contract prioritization)
Success Metrics
Measure progress against concrete, observable outcomes:
Month 2 Checkpoint
Billing verification time reduced by at least 40%
AI assistant accurately flagging 80%+ of paperwork issues
Prospect list of 20+ facilities identified
Month 4 Checkpoint
Billing verification time reduced by 60%
At least 5 facility outreach conversations initiated
Customer inquiry response time improved
Month 6 Checkpoint
10–15 hours per week recovered from billing tasks
1–2 new facility contracts in pipeline or signed
Core SOPs documented and operational
Monthly reporting takes under 30 minutes
Decision Rules
Clear triggers prevent both premature optimization and stalled progress:
When to Expand AI Usage
Billing assistant accuracy exceeds 85% → Add reconciliation automation
Contract outreach generates 3+ qualified leads → Invest in CRM integration
Trip volume increases 25%+ → Evaluate scheduling optimization tools
When to Pause and Reassess
AI assistant creates more errors than it catches → Return to manual process, refine prompts
Time investment in maintaining AI exceeds time saved → Simplify approach
Team resistance impacts adoption → Address training and change management first
When to Skip a Phase
If billing is already efficient after Phase 0 audit → Move directly to growth tools
If contract capacity is maxed → Focus on operational efficiency, not acquisition
Looking Ahead
Looking Ahead
Year 2 Considerations
Once the foundational systems are running smoothly, several opportunities warrant evaluation:
Route Optimization
As trip volume grows, AI-powered route optimization could reduce fuel costs and increase daily trip capacity. This becomes relevant when you're consistently running 50+ trips per day.
Predictive Maintenance
Vehicle downtime costs trips. AI tools can analyze maintenance patterns and predict issues before breakdowns. Worth exploring when fleet size exceeds 5 vehicles.
Expanded Insurance Credentialing
You mentioned wanting access to more insurance providers. AI can research credentialing requirements, assist with applications, and track renewal deadlines. This becomes priority when current Medicaid contracts are stable and billing is efficient.
Addressing Taxi Service
The Everyday Taxi service currently operates as complementary revenue through existing Google Ads and hotel referrals. Once NEMT operations are systematized and billing efficiency is stable, Year 2 presents an opportunity to actively grow the taxi side — potentially through hotel partnership programs, airport service packages, or expanded Google Ads targeting. The operational infrastructure built in Year 1 (SOPs, AI assistants, reporting dashboards) will transfer directly to taxi operations.