Recently, Michelle Moreno, Vice President of Security, Compliance & Project Management at Kinetik, was a guest author in Healthcare IT Today’s article, “The new security imperative: Why health plans can’t afford to overlook NEMT compliance.” The piece showcases Michelle’s expertise on the growing compliance and security pressures facing health plans as they work to modernize and safeguard their non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) programs.
In the article, Michelle outlines the rapidly escalating compliance and security risks facing health plans when it comes to managing non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) programs. For example, she notes:
“A single NEMT data breach exposing member Protected Health Information (PHI) can trigger HIPAA penalties as high as $2.1 million per violation.”
This stark reminder underscores the need for health plans not only to view NEMT as a logistics or cost-center function, but as a critical component of their broader compliance, security, and member-experience strategy.
Michelle’s insight goes further: she argues that the fragmented, outsourced nature of many traditional NEMT programs actually exacerbates risk by creating siloed data flows and weak security oversight. Health plans, she urges, should instead adopt a model of full program ownership, supported by interoperable digital infrastructure, rigorous vendor governance, and real-time data visibility.
From Kinetik’s perspective, Michelle’s message aligns directly with our solution philosophy. Kinetik’s NEMT and care-access solutions were developed precisely to counter the compliance and security challenges Michelle identifies.
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By supplying end-to-end visibility across trip scheduling, member tracking, vendor performance and reimbursement, we help eliminate data silos and reduce blind spots.
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With built-in compliance workflows, audit-ready reporting and role-based access controls, our solution supports the security rigor needed for HIPAA and associated regulatory frameworks.
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Because the platform is architected for health-plan ownership and integration (rather than entirely outsourced black-box models), plans retain stronger governance over transportation programs — aligning with Michelle’s insistence on reducing third-party exposure.
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Real-time analytics and event-triggering capability mean that missed trips, delayed member transports or vendor performance deviations become actionable events — enabling proactive care coordination and risk mitigation before issues escalate.
In short, Michelle’s article captures the “new security imperative” for health plans: transportation programs are no longer a back-office afterthought — they are frontline components of member safety, regulatory compliance and operational transparency. Kinetik’s solutions are designed to meet this moment, helping health plans strengthen governance, reduce risk, and deliver a more connected, compliant transportation experience.
