Episode #221. No Ride, No Care: The Barrier No One Talks About, with Robbins Schrader, Co-Founder and CEO of SafeRide Health

Summary

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Risk Never Sleeps Podcast – Episode #221

No Ride, No Care: The Barrier No One Talks About

Guest: Robbins Schrader, Co-Founder and CEO of SafeRide Health
Host: Ed Gaudet
Date: May 14, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the often-overlooked barrier to patient care: transportation. Ed Gaudet interviews Robbins Schrader, CEO and co-founder of SafeRide Health, a company dedicated to ensuring that vulnerable populations have reliable access to healthcare appointments. Their conversation dives into the origins of SafeRide Health, the challenges of healthcare entrepreneurship, the future of non-emergency medical transportation, and the critical importance of preserving trust, safety, and funding in this evolving industry.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Introducing Robbins Schrader and SafeRide Health

• Company Mission: SafeRide addresses the essential problem of getting patients—especially the elderly and those with chronic or life-sustaining care needs (e.g., dialysis, chemotherapy)—to their medical appointments. (00:57)
• Scope: SafeRide is a covered benefit in most Medicare Advantage and many Managed Medicaid plans. (04:54)
• Scale: 350 full-time employees and over 1,000 contractors. (01:46)
• Founding Story: Inspired by the rise of Uber in San Francisco, Robbins recognized that access to healthcare was an unmet need that new transportation technologies could address. Personal experiences, including the loss of a friend to addiction, further motivated his mission. (04:12)

The Entrepreneurial Journey

• Learning as a First-Time Founder: Coming into healthcare from outside the industry allowed Robbins to "see things differently" and learn from mistakes with fresh eyes. (01:59)
• Professional Background: Ex-Navy, former BCG consultant, originally from the Boston area. (02:13–02:25)
• Biggest Risks: Expanding from Medicare into Medicaid due to increased complexity and compliance requirements. (06:51)

The Business and Its Challenges

• Balancing Vision and Execution: Robbins describes his role as “the clutch between your team and the board,” aiming to translate vision into actionable, tactical goals while managing expectations. (05:13)
• Board and Investor Relations: Early investors were “fundamentals-based” rather than chasing trends, which gave the company stability. “Not being sexy really helped us out.” (11:07, 11:30)

Industry Trends and Future Initiatives

• Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA): SafeRide is focusing on leading efforts to reduce FWA, using new technologies to preserve essential healthcare dollars. (07:23)
• Expanding Member Services: Since SafeRide interacts with members more frequently than physicians do, there’s potential to use transportation as a touchpoint to support overall well-being. (08:02)
• Scaling the Business: The company aspires to increase its impact and scale, recognizing that, similar to Uber, growth enables faster improvement and greater reach. (07:57)
• Geographic Scope: Currently only operating in the U.S., with expansion opportunities focused on services, not geography. (07:58–08:02)

The Human Side

• Personal Insights: Robbins has lived in Munich, loves skiing, and is a music enthusiast (The Band, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash). (05:43, 05:54, 09:14)
• Work-Life Balance: Now focused on family life in LA with two young children, which limits global travel. (06:23)
• Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs: “Don’t rush it.” He emphasizes building skills and resilience in challenging environments before launching a startup. (10:16)
• Imposter Syndrome: “Constantly,” but it’s eased over a decade in the sector. (10:44–10:46)

Technology, Transportation, and Patient Experience

• Adoption of New Tech: Right now, SafeRide is cautious about using autonomous vehicles (Waymo) for medically vulnerable riders, noting the importance of familiarity and trust. (12:05–12:31)
• Patient Safety: The uncertainty and risks tied to new transportation modes—trust in drivers, technology, speed, and highway navigation—highlight the importance of maintaining patient safety as technology evolves. (12:31–13:33)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Problem SafeRide Solves:
  “We solve the singular problem of half healthcare has just shown up. We give folks to the doctor. It’s paid for by Medicare and Medicaid…It’s a privilege to help.”
  — Robbins Schrader (00:57)

• On Founding Inspiration:
  “I was in San Francisco in 2013 watching the then startup Uber come on the scene… I was thinking about, well, how do we use these tools in the context of healthcare…If you put these two problems together, you can create something really special.”
  — Robbins Schrader (04:12)

• On Entrepreneurship:
  “In my role, you’re the clutch between your team and the board…you want to make sure that you've got a really compelling vision and you’re driving that forward. But at the same time, it's also actionable, tactical and can be realized…”
  — Robbins Schrader (05:13)

• On Scaling and Technology:
  “As we look at a growing scarcity of funding…being able to be the absolute category leader in preserving precious dollars for their intended use…I think is one that has resonated really well.”
  — Robbins Schrader (07:23)

• On Non-Emergency Medical Transportation:
  “They (our members) see us more than they see their doctor. They're physically in a vehicle 30 minutes numerous times a week with us. And it's this rare opportunity to say, hey, you know, we're seeing you struggle to comply with this type of course of care…”
  — Robbins Schrader (08:02)

• Advice for Entrepreneurs:
  “Don’t rush it. I’m really lucky to have worked in places like the Boston Consulting Group and other places where I was told I was not good enough over and over and over again…that pressure trains you to think differently, to be more precise, to understand what excellence looks like.”
  — Robbins Schrader (10:16)

• On AI and Transportation Trends:
  “Selling wheelchair services in an era of AI and drones and scooters, machine learning, like, was not sexy. And so the folks who got in with us really believed in what we're doing…”
  — Robbins Schrader (11:07)

• On Waymo and Patient Trust:
  “Would you ever put chronic member in a Waymo? And the answer is probably not yet… putting my nana in a Waymo would sort of guarantee she has a heart attack before she gets to the doctor.”
  — Robbins Schrader (12:08)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro to SafeRide Health & Robbins Schrader — 00:53
• Company Scale and Team — 01:46
• Robbins’ Background and Founding Story — 02:13; 04:12
• The Business Model & Customer Base — 04:54
• Entrepreneurship and Lessons Learned — 05:13; 10:16
• Growth, Risk, and Compliance in Medicaid — 06:51
• Future Initiatives: Preventing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse — 07:23
• Services Expansion & Patient Engagement — 08:02
• Technology & Transportation (Waymo, Uber) — 12:05
• Music Preferences & Personal Insights — 09:14
• Advice to Future Entrepreneurs — 10:16

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Key Takeaways

• Non-emergency medical transportation is a critical, often invisible link in patient care, especially for the most vulnerable populations.
• SafeRide’s impact is amplified both by its scale and its deep commitment to trust, safety, and responsible stewardship of healthcare dollars.
• The future of this sector will be shaped by new technology, but patient trust and practical needs still come first.
• Robbins Schrader’s journey underscores the value of resilience, humility, and building the right team culture.

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Transcript

[Robin Schrader]

Foreign.

[Ed Gaudet]

Welcome to Risk Never Sleeps where we meet and get to know the people delivering patient care and protecting patient safety. I'm your host, Ed Gaudet.

[Ed Gaudette]

Welcome to the Risk Never Sleeps podcast in which we learn about the people that are on the front lines protecting patient safety and delivering patient care. I'm Ed Gaudette, the host of the program and today I'm joined by Robin Schrader from Safe Ride Health. Robins, how are you?

[Robin Schrader]

Great to be here, thanks.

[Ed Gaudette]

And you're local?

[Robin Schrader]

I am, yeah. La's home. Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

And how long you've been at the show?

[Robin Schrader]

About two hours.

[Ed Gaudette]

Do you have a booth?

[Robin Schrader]

No, not this one. No.

[Ed Gaudette]

No. In two hours. What have you learned?

[Robin Schrader]

There's an awful lot of AI with an awful lot of money. That's right.

[Ed Gaudette]

Start off by telling our listeners a little bit about your role in your company.

[Robin Schrader]

Sure. Nice to meet you. I'm the co founder and CEO.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay, great. And tell us about the company.

[Robin Schrader]

Sure. So the company is called Safe Ride Health. The problem we solve is one that many of us which is getting our loved ones to care. So many of us have aging parents. Some of us are sadly helping folks navigating life sustaining care like dialysis or chemotherapy. We solve the singular problem of half healthcare has just shown up. We give folks to the doctor. It's paid for by Medicare and Medicaid and Nice. It's a privilege to help.

[Ed Gaudette]

How long you been around?

[Robin Schrader]

We turned 10 this year.

[Ed Gaudette]

10 years? Yep.

[Robin Schrader]

Congrats. Yeah, it's been good fun.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. What a journey. Who are some of your investors?

[Robin Schrader]

Oh, we've got a long slate of investors. Some of the most recent would be folks like Sands Capital, big asset manager out of DC, 60 billion under management and then along string of folks who've come with us on every step of the journey. We're a little bit later stage now, but it's been been great to have a really great team around me.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. How many folks you have on your team?

[Robin Schrader]

Full time employees? Around 350.

[Ed Gaudette]

Nice. That's a great site.

[Robin Schrader]

Contractors. We are well over a thousand contractors.

[Ed Gaudette]

Is this your first company or.

[Robin Schrader]

This is my first yet. Congrats. Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

Thank you. Yeah. What's the biggest learning as an entrepreneur?

[Robin Schrader]

As a. I think it's been fun to come at this as not a healthcare guy or gal. So you know, we've had the, the luxury of making lots of somewhat obvious mistakes, but when you face things and you fail, sometimes you can see things differently.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. What's your background?

[Robin Schrader]

So ex Navy from a long Time ago.

[Ed Gaudette]

Thanks for your service.

[Robin Schrader]

Thank you. And then spent a lot of time in operating roles. Most recently left BCG to start Safe Ride.

[Ed Gaudette]

Oh, bcg Austin Consulting. That's correct, yeah. Were you based here?

[Robin Schrader]

I was, yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

Born and raised.

[Robin Schrader]

No east coast guy. So Boston born and then still play hockey every Monday to keep some of those east coast routes.

[Ed Gaudette]

Where in Boston?

[Robin Schrader]

Concord, Mass.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm from Boston.

[Robin Schrader]

No way.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay, can over.

[Robin Schrader]

Okay.

[Ed Gaudette]

South Shore. Got it. Yeah, got it. Concord.

[Robin Schrader]

Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. Where'd you go to school?

[Robin Schrader]

Oh, that was a long time ago. Alcott elementary. Yep.

[Ed Gaudette]

You know if you went to a boarding school or. How about college?

[Robin Schrader]

I went to Cornell undergrad and I went to business school at. pe.

[Ed Gaudette]

Nice. Cornell. Ithaca.

[Robin Schrader]

Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

I was there for a dead show recently.

[Robin Schrader]

Oh, wow. Dead 76. I mean, that was the famous one.

[Ed Gaudette]

77.

[Robin Schrader]

Okay.

[Ed Gaudette]

But that's okay. No, no, it was the. Yeah, it was actually the anniversary of that show. Oh. Yeah. So it was in 2023.

[Robin Schrader]

Oh, very cool.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. Yeah, it was incredible. It was at Barton Hall.

[Robin Schrader]

Yep.

[Ed Gaudette]

It was amazing. I took my daughter with me and won a lottery and able to, you know, we had to pay for it, but you had to go into a lottery, actually get picked because it was

[Robin Schrader]

a very small venue, so. So I have different memories of Barton Hall. That's actually where all the ROTC groups are. And so I was marching up the hill at Zero Dark thirty to go twirl.

[Ed Gaudette]

Right.

[Robin Schrader]

All the rosy stuff.

[Ed Gaudette]

I was rosy, too. Army, though.

[Ed Gaudet]

Navy?

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah, yeah. Field artillery.

[Robin Schrader]

Okay.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. But you had big guns, too.

[Robin Schrader]

Sure did.

[Ed Gaudette]

Did you fly?

[Robin Schrader]

I started. Unfortunately, I was down for History of Asthma, but I went down to Picola.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yes.

[Robin Schrader]

All classed up and nice. It's pretty wild to see, like, the Blue Angels racing over.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. If you weren't doing this job, what would you be doing? What are you most passionate about?

[Robin Schrader]

I think I had the itch to start something, so I think I'd be creating or building something. That's just something I really, really enjoy. And it's fun to sort of get a team rallying around you to go solve a problem together.

[Ed Gaudette]

What was the inspiration to start the business?

[Robin Schrader]

Yeah. Thanks for asking. So I was in San Francisco in 2013 watching the then startup Uber come on the scene, and people were using that to solve San Francisco problems. Like, you know, how do I get to the airport? How do I get a burrito? Turned out to be a huge business.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yes.

[Robin Schrader]

Mano is thinking about, well, how do we use these tools in the context of healthcare and so the more I looked at some of the problems that people are having accessing, you know, life sustaining care, and I lost, sadly, a friend to addiction, the more I realized, holy cow, this is new tool set and no one's thinking about using it. And my goodness, if you put these two problems together, you can create something really special. And so that's where we got started and it's just been incredible.

[Ed Gaudette]

Who do you sell to? Who's your buyer?

[Robin Schrader]

We sell to the nation's largest payers, so we are a covered benefit in most Medicare Advantage plans and then also in a large swath of managed Medicaid plans.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay.

[Robin Schrader]

Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

What's the hardest part about being an entrepreneur?

[Robin Schrader]

So many things.

[Ed Gaudette]

I know. Yeah.

[Robin Schrader]

I mean, I think in my role you're the clutch between your team and the board. And so you want to make sure that you've got a really compelling vision and you're driving that forward. But at the same time it's also actionable, tactical and can be realized and sometimes there's a little bit of misalignment there. But no, it's been incredible to have a vision, to have a team that frankly is always pushing to go further and go harder and go bigger, you know, I feel like we're just getting started.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay. One thing, something about you that most people don't know.

[Robin Schrader]

Oh, man. I lived in Munich for seven years.

[Ed Gaudette]

Why?

[Robin Schrader]

My dad actually was with the Boston Consulting Group as well. Oh, all right.

[Ed Gaudette]

Oh, cool.

[Robin Schrader]

Back in the. In the go go 80s. Yeah. Oh.

[Ed Gaudette]

Did you love Munich?

[Robin Schrader]

I did. Being a kid in Munich was pretty special. The Alps aren't that far away so you can drive down and did you ski all the time? Yeah, we learned how to ski there and it's like my grandpa pulled me through the parking lot, that kind of stuff. Yeah, it was just a beautiful. Now I'm Blanc but we went to closest a lot. Oh, nice. Which is right next to Davos. Davos. Very fancy. Yesterday's just kind of a less fancy but still Swiss Alps fancy place. But it was great.

[Ed Gaudette]

Great chocolate too. Unbelievable.

[Robin Schrader]

Especially as a kid.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. Do you still travel?

[Robin Schrader]

I have two small kids, so my world is pretty small.

[Ed Gaudette]

How small? How old?

[Robin Schrader]

One is seven months so she's brand new six year old boy, so. Oh wow.

[Ed Gaudette]

We're loving that.

[Robin Schrader]

Great age.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah.

[Robin Schrader]

And LA is a great place to have kids.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah.

[Robin Schrader]

There's so much to do. Just right here in your backyard.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah, it's always nice out too. So you always get outside and run around and. Yeah. What's the Riskiest thing you've ever done

[Robin Schrader]

for probably starting a healthcare company.

[Ed Gaudette]

It's pretty risky.

[Robin Schrader]

I think when we think about our journey, just hurtling from Medicare into Medicaid was a big, big step because of the complexity and the requirements, the compliance requirements, which are all there for a reason. My goodness, that was a little spicy.

[Ed Gaudette]

Do you surf? A little bit.

[Robin Schrader]

Enthusiastically, but not very well. Where I like to go up north, so like Malibu and up that way, it's just few less people and cleane coastline.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah, exactly.

[Robin Schrader]

Especially now.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah, yeah, especially now. Yeah. You know, when you look out over the horizon on the next couple years, what are some of your top initiatives?

[Robin Schrader]

I think for us, one of the main ones is as we look at a growing scarcity of funding is fraud, waste, abuse. Being able to be the absolute category leader and preserving precious dollars for their intended use, I think is one that has resonated really well. And there's an incredible amount of technology you can now bring to bear that was not available even 24 months ago. So that's really, really exciting and I think very, very timely. The other thing is it's just continuing to go on the journey. You know, I think this is an industry like Uber, where scale helps a lot. And so as we achieve scale, we can just start to move faster and faster and faster.

[Ed Gaudette]

Are you global?

[Robin Schrader]

Are you outside of the U.S. no. Or just a U.S. business?

[Ed Gaudette]

Y expansion opportunities?

[Robin Schrader]

I think it would be more around the services we provide to the member. So when we think about that, we serve the nation's most vulnerable, most chronic, most expensive parts of the care continuum, and they see us more than they see their doctor. They're physically in a vehicle 30 minutes numerous times a week with us. And it's this rare opportunity to say, like, hey, you know, we're seeing you struggle to comply with this type of course of care, or there are all these needs that these members have that I think we could use transportation as an opening to help them live happier and healthier lives.

[Ed Gaudette]

How's the show been for you?

[Robin Schrader]

The show, it's been great. Like, I. I mean, I remember coming to Health a bunch back in the day, and we do more regional things now.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. Do you have a booth here?

[Robin Schrader]

No.

[Ed Gaudette]

Oh, you didn't do it here? Yeah. Going to hims again.

[Robin Schrader]

We sort of pulled back from the big national stuff. We did a little more surgical local things because that's where sort of our community is. Medicaid is a very local business. So I like to be in the Texas association of Health Plans, which Is like a somewhat regional plan. Yeah. And so much regional. Sorry. Conference. But like supremely helpful. That's where we see all the folks that we work with every day.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. Music or movies?

[Robin Schrader]

Music.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay.

[Robin Schrader]

This is amazing. Music town. Okay.

[Ed Gaudette]

You're on a desert island. You could bring five records with you. What would they be?

[Robin Schrader]

Oh, wow. Well, my mom's favorite band is the Band.

[Ed Gaudette]

Oh.

[Robin Schrader]

So. Love your mom. Yeah, exactly. That's.

[Ed Gaudette]

It's a great band.

[Robin Schrader]

So I'd have to sort of give her an homage. But there's. Man, that's one. I mean, Willie Nelson's work.

[Ed Gaudette]

Nice. Okay.

[Robin Schrader]

Probably some Johnny Cash. Oh, and then old school country guy.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah.

[Robin Schrader]

Take it to also sort of the current indie stuff. There's just so much out there that like I think Spotify has helped me just always see something new.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah.

[Robin Schrader]

Which is really fun. But I don't know what it's called anymore. It's just good.

[Ed Gaudette]

Any new music that you like or that you could suggest? I'm always looking for something new. You like Noah Khan?

[Robin Schrader]

I don't know. I'm so. Oh, okay.

[Ed Gaudette]

So there's one for you.

[Robin Schrader]

Sadly, I went to the LCD sound system show a while back and it was all 35 plus year old dudes.

[Ed Gaudette]

Straight LCD though.

[Robin Schrader]

That's. That's fun.

[Ed Gaudette]

That's. That's good. What advice would you give to someone coming out of school that wants to become an entrepreneur?

[Robin Schrader]

Good question. I'd say perhaps don't rush it. I'm really lucky to have worked in places like the Boston Consulting Group and other places where I was told I was not good enough over and over and over again. And sort of that pressure trains you to think differently, to be more precise, to understand what excellence looks like. And it's because of that mentorship that I was able to then go off and continue to make mistakes, but hopefully with a little bit of training behind them.

[Ed Gaudette]

Do you ever have that imposter syndrome?

[Robin Schrader]

Oh, constantly. Really?

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah.

[Robin Schrader]

Still not anymore so much. No. It's been really refreshing a decade in to sort of become the category leader and have a more command of your space. But the exciting thing for healthcare is it's just changing so fast.

[Ed Gaudette]

And so I always find that the most interesting part about being an entrepreneur is board management. Yeah. Especially if you have investors. What was your journey like there?

[Robin Schrader]

Pretty constructive. You know, I was lucky to have good investors the whole way through. I think selling wheelchair services in an era of AI and drones and scooters, machine learning, like, was not sexy. And so the folks who Got in with us, really believed in what we're doing and had high conviction. And so we didn't have sort of fad chasing investors. We had fundamentals based investors.

[Ed Gaudette]

Nice.

[Robin Schrader]

And so I guess in that way not being sexy really helped us out. And I think sometimes that's where the fun businesses are and these sort of overlooked forgotten corners that are doggy and old line and man, if you just take a fresh look at things, the solution's so exciting.

[Ed Gaudette]

Did you ever pivot or have a chance to pivot and maybe say no?

[Robin Schrader]

We definitely looked at some markets that quickly realized like weren't a fit for us. So we thought we might do mass transit and that was not a fit. I know for us it's always been kind of the core idea of a, you know, let's solve the problem of a sick person getting to the doctor. Let's do it as often as possible.

[Ed Gaudette]

Waymo or Uber?

[Robin Schrader]

Wow. Sorry. It's just both are excellent. I also get asked the question of like, would you ever put chronic member in a, in a Waymo? And the answer is probably not yet. But I think as folks get more familiar with that, I mean, yeah, I think I sort of joke that like putting my nana in a Waymo would sort of guarantee she has a heart attack before she gets to the doctor.

[Ed Gaudette]

So.

[Robin Schrader]

But you know, like as people, people become more and more familiar with that tool.

[Ed Gaudette]

Have you been in the Waymo?

[Robin Schrader]

Love them. You do. It's a wonderful experience.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah.

[Robin Schrader]

So I think it's just, it's time.

[Ed Gaudette]

I was talking to a guy outside the hotel yesterday who was outside of a Waymo. So I didn't know why he was standing outside the windmill, but he was waiting to unlock it. He was waiting for a friend.

[Robin Schrader]

Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

And then he was telling me about how he doesn't trust Uber drivers and how they drive drunk and all this other stuff. The Waymo started to move away from him and he's just like. And he started running after it.

[Robin Schrader]

It was the most bizarre thing.

[Ed Gaudette]

I thought, okay, maybe not ready yet for prime time. I don't know if I'd get in one. How many Waymo trips have you taken?

[Robin Schrader]

Just a few, I think. Not sure if they go on the highway in la, which can be a bit of a thing. Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

Cuz it's all highway driving.

[Robin Schrader]

There's a fair bit of it, yes. Very slow highway driving.

[Ed Gaudette]

That's right.

[Robin Schrader]

Yes, slow.

[Ed Gaudette]

We went to Venice beach over the weekend.

[Robin Schrader]

Oh, good for you.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah, it was fun, but it was, was a long drive. Yeah. Longer than I expected.

[Robin Schrader]

Here we are in LA talking about traffic once again.

[Ed Gaudette]

Appreciate your time. Thanks for being part of the program.

[Robin Schrader]

It was a delight. Thanks so much.

[Ed Gaudette]

Ed Gaudette from the Risk Never Sleeps podcast. If you're on the front lines protecting patient safety or delivering patient care, remember to stay vigilant because risk never sleeps.

[Ed Gaudet]

Thanks for listening to Risk Never Sleeps. For the show, notes, resources and more information and how to transform the protection of patient safety, Visit [e-mail] that's C-E N S I N E T.com I'm your host, Ed Gaudet. And until next time, stay vigilant because Risk never sleeps.