Working With Northwest Rescue: Hospital Referral Guide

Q: What Documentation Do You Need at Transfer?

At minimum: the physician's transfer order, face sheet, current medication administration record including active IV drips, recent labs and imaging, signed consent for transport, insurance information, and any applicable advanced directives such as DNR or POLST. For Critical Care Transport, add current ventilator settings, drip concentrations and rates, recent ABG and vital signs, and any relevant line-placement confirmations. Complete documentation speeds the transfer and reduces bedside back-and-forth between the sending nurse and the transport crew.

How hospitals, nursing homes, and discharge planners work with Northwest Rescue for BLS, ALS, and Critical Care Transport across northern Illinois.

This guide is written for hospital case managers, discharge planners, nursing home administrators, and any facility staff who arrange medical transport in northern Illinois. If you are a family member trying to understand the transport your loved one is receiving, our 911 vs. Interfacility Transport guide may be a better starting point.

Northwest Rescue is a licensed private EMS provider in northern Illinois running BLS, ALS, and Critical Care Transport across our stations in Harvard, Rockford, Loves Park, and Ottawa. We handle 24/7 planned inter-facility transports, hospital discharges, dialysis and treatment round-trips, event standby coverage, and emergency response backups when partner services need mutual aid. This guide covers who we are as a transport partner, what levels of care we run, how to book with us, what documentation we need, and how billing and insurance coordination work.

What Northwest Rescue Handles for Referral Partners

We are set up to handle the full range of medical transports a hospital or nursing home typically needs:

Hospital-to-hospital transfers — from community hospital to tertiary care center (trauma, stroke, cardiac cath lab, high-risk OB), including ICU-level Critical Care Transport for the highest-acuity patients.
Hospital-to-nursing-facility transfers for step-down and rehabilitation admissions.
Nursing-facility-to-hospital transports for admissions, ED visits, and specialty consults.
Hospital or nursing facility discharges to home for patients requiring stretcher-level transport with monitoring.
Recurring appointment transports — dialysis three-times-weekly, wound care, oncology infusion, radiation therapy round-trips.
Diagnostic imaging transports — MRI, CT, cardiac studies at outpatient centers.
Bariatric transport for patients requiring specialty bariatric equipment.
Long-distance medical transport between northern Illinois and out-of-region hospitals (Milwaukee, Chicago, Peoria, cross-state) with clinical monitoring throughout.
Event standby medical coverage for community events, sporting events, corporate gatherings — see our dedicated event coverage service for details.

For pediatric and neonatal specialty transports, we coordinate with the receiving children's hospital's dedicated transport team. Our Pediatric and Neonatal Transport guide covers how that coordination works.

Levels of Care We Run

Basic Life Support (BLS) — for stable patients who need transport with basic monitoring but no medication administration or advanced airway management en route. Staffed by two EMTs. Appropriate for most stable discharges, dialysis transports, and outpatient appointment round-trips.

Advanced Life Support (ALS) — for patients requiring IV access, medication administration, cardiac monitoring, or the possibility of any of these during transport. Staffed by at least one paramedic. Appropriate for most inter-facility transfers where the patient is on IV medications, has unstable vital signs, or is moving to a higher level of care.

Critical Care Transport (CCT) — for ICU-level patients requiring interventions during transport that exceed standard paramedic scope: ventilator management, multiple continuous IV drips (especially vasopressors), invasive monitoring, or blood product administration. Staffed by a Critical Care Paramedic or Critical Care Nurse paired with a paramedic driver. Appropriate for transfers to tertiary care centers, post-cardiac-arrest patients, and complex specialty transports.

If your patient's clinical picture is between levels, our dispatch will help sort it out — the default is always to over-resource rather than under-resource.

How to Book a Transport With Us

Our dispatch line is staffed 24/7 for booking inquiries and confirmations. The most efficient booking includes the following information up front:

Sending facility name, unit, and contact for the sending clinician or case manager.
Receiving facility name, unit, and — for inter-facility transfers — the accepting physician or unit that has confirmed the transfer.
Patient information — name, date of birth, weight (for bariatric planning), and current clinical status.
Clinical acuity summary — what's happening with the patient, what interventions are running during transport (IV drips, oxygen, ventilator settings), and any relevant history the transport crew should know.
Level of care needed — BLS, ALS, or CCT. If unsure, describe the patient's picture and we'll help determine the right level.
Requested transport time — for scheduled transfers, when the sending facility wants the crew there. For time-critical transfers, we dispatch immediately.
Insurance information — for billing coordination. See the billing section below for more detail.
Any special considerations — infection precautions, family riding along, specific equipment needs (bariatric stretcher, isolation cart, etc.).

For recurring transports (dialysis, standing appointments), we can set up standing orders that streamline the booking each week. Ask our dispatch about setting up a standing transport agreement.

What Happens After You Book

Once booking is confirmed:

Dispatch assigns the appropriate rig and crew based on level of care, geographic origin, and patient acuity.
The crew is dispatched with the transport details, patient information, and receiving facility instructions.
The crew calls the sending unit on arrival to receive report from the sending nurse or physician — medication list, IV lines, monitor settings, any changes since booking.
Patient is packaged for transport — this can take 30-60 minutes for higher-acuity patients (line verification, medication reconciliation, ventilator setup for CCT transfers, family handoff).
The transport itself proceeds at appropriate speed for the patient's condition. Most inter-facility transfers travel at standard highway speeds because rapid deceleration is dangerous for unstable patients.
On arrival at the receiving facility, the crew delivers a bedside handoff report to the receiving team — same medication list, any changes en route, any interventions performed during transport.
The receiving facility signs off, and the crew clears from the transport.
Documentation is completed — patient care report goes to both sending and receiving facilities on request, and to the billing team for insurance coordination.

Documentation We Need at the Bedside

For a smooth transfer, the sending unit should have ready:

Physician's transfer order with the reason for transfer, the level of care needed, and the accepting physician's name.
Face sheet and demographics for the patient.
Current medication administration record and any active IV drip settings.
Recent labs and imaging relevant to the transfer.
Consent for transport signed by the patient or the healthcare decision-maker.
Insurance card copies or insurance information.
Advanced directives — DNR, POLST, or other applicable orders.
Personal belongings inventory — anything traveling with the patient.

For Critical Care Transport specifically, add:

Ventilator settings the patient is currently on (mode, PEEP, FiO2, tidal volume, rate).
Continuous drip settings with concentration and current rate.
Recent ABG and vital sign trends for the last few hours.
Any imaging or line placement confirmations relevant to the transfer.

The more complete the sending-side documentation, the faster the crew can be on the road with the patient.

Billing and Insurance Coordination

Medicare, most commercial insurance plans, and Illinois Medicaid cover medically necessary ambulance transport at the appropriate level. Our billing team coordinates directly with insurance for medical necessity documentation, pre-authorization where required, and claim submission.

For planned inter-facility transports, pre-authorization is often required and is typically handled by the sending hospital's case management team. We work with your case management to get the necessary clinical documentation into the pre-auth request.

For non-emergency medical transports where a facility is coordinating on the patient's behalf (dialysis round-trips, appointment transports), the same medical necessity documentation applies. Our billing team can help sort out coverage questions and, when needed, provide the sending facility with the appropriate cost estimate for their patient's family.

For out-of-region long-distance transports, coverage depends on the patient's insurance plan and the specifics of the referral. We provide estimates in advance so families and facility teams can plan.

If insurance denies a claim and leaves a balance, we work with families directly on payment plans. Facility staff can direct family questions about billing to our billing team.

What Differentiates Us as a Transport Partner

All licensed levels of care — we run BLS, ALS, and CCT so you don't have to coordinate multiple vendors as patient acuity shifts.
24/7 dispatch — every day of the year, including holidays.
Established mutual aid relationships — we work closely with municipal fire departments, other private services, and air medical partners across northern Illinois, so if the right rig for your patient is with another agency, we can coordinate the handoff.
Focus on referral partner satisfaction — we track on-time performance, sending-unit feedback, and receiving-unit handoff quality as core operational metrics.
Local ownership — Northwest Rescue is northern-Illinois-owned and operated. Our leadership answers the phone. When you need something escalated, you talk to someone who lives and works in the region you serve.

How to Get Started as a Referral Partner

Facilities that haven't worked with us before can reach out through our contact page or directly to our operations team to set up an intake conversation. We'll walk through your typical transport volume, common referral patterns, any recurring standing orders, and preferred communication channels. For high-volume partner facilities, we can set up dedicated point-of-contact structures and streamlined booking workflows.

If you're a hospital or nursing facility in northern Illinois looking for a reliable transport partner across all levels of care, contact our team and we'll set up the introduction call.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do Hospitals Book Transport With Northwest Rescue?

Hospital case management, discharge planners, or unit staff call our 24/7 dispatch line with the transport details: sending unit, receiving facility, patient clinical status, level of care needed, and requested pickup time. Dispatch confirms the booking, assigns the appropriate rig and crew, and coordinates arrival time. For recurring transports (dialysis, standing appointments), we can set up standing orders that streamline weekly booking.

Does Northwest Rescue Handle Critical Care Transport?

Yes. Northwest Rescue runs Critical Care Transport across northern Illinois with Critical Care Paramedic staffing and full ICU-level equipment on our CCT rigs. We handle inter-facility transfers for ICU patients, post-cardiac-arrest patients, stroke transfers, STEMI transfers to cath labs, and complex specialty transports. Sending case management can request CCT-level transport directly through our dispatch.

Do You Provide Non-Emergency Medical Transport?

Yes. Non-emergency medical transport is a substantial part of our service — dialysis round-trips, outpatient appointment transports, hospital discharges, and diagnostic imaging transports. Level of care matches patient acuity: BLS for stable patients, ALS for patients on IV medications or with unstable vital signs, CCT for ICU-level patients.

How Do You Handle Insurance and Billing for Referred Patients?

Our billing team coordinates with insurance for medical necessity documentation, pre-authorization where required, and claim submission. Sending facilities are typically responsible for the initial pre-authorization request; we support with the necessary clinical documentation. If insurance denies a claim and leaves a balance, we work with families directly on payment plans. Cost estimates for non-covered or out-of-network transports are available in advance on request.

What Documentation Do You Need at Transfer?

At minimum: physician's transfer order, face sheet, current medication administration record (including active IV drips), recent labs and imaging, signed consent for transport, insurance information, and any applicable advanced directives (DNR, POLST). For Critical Care Transport, add current ventilator settings, drip concentrations and rates, recent ABG and vital signs, and any relevant line-placement confirmations. Complete documentation speeds the transfer and reduces bedside back-and-forth between sending nurse and transport crew.

Do You Coordinate With Air Medical Services?

Yes. For time-critical patients where helicopter or fixed-wing transport is clinically appropriate, we coordinate with the regional air medical services (Flight for Life, LifeLine, and others depending on the mission) to transfer care from our ground crew to the flight team. Coordination is handled dispatch-to-dispatch.

Related reading

911 vs. Interfacility Transport: What's the Difference and When Do You Need Each?
Pediatric and Neonatal Transport: Why a Specialized Team Matters
What Is Critical Care Transport? (And When You Need It)
ALS vs BLS Ambulance: When Each Is the Right Call
Choosing a Medical Transport Provider for a Loved One: The Checklist (coming soon)

Interested in becoming a Northwest Rescue referral partner? We work with hospitals, nursing facilities, dialysis centers, and specialty clinics across northern Illinois. Contact our operations team to set up an intake conversation.