The ride home after a colonoscopy.The sedation means you cannot drive for the rest of the day, and most clinics will not discharge you to a bus. One booking covers the whole morning: the driver takes you in, parks and waits however long the procedure runs, and walks you back to your own door. $100 an hour, flat, pickup to drop-off.
- $100/hrflat, pickup to drop-off, with the driving inside it
- The whole appointmentthe van stays parked outside, however long it overruns
- 3 riders freeso somebody you know can come along at no extra charge
Why you cannot drive yourself home.
It is the medication rather than the procedure. That is also why the rule does not lift when you feel fine an hour later.
A colonoscopy is done under sedation, and sedation keeps affecting judgement and reaction time for hours after you stop feeling drowsy. Clinics therefore do not treat “I feel alright now” as the test — they treat the day as one in which you do not drive at all, and they say so in the instructions that come with your prep.
The Twin Cities practice most likely to be doing your procedure puts it in one sentence on its own patient page.
“Medication given during the procedure will prohibit you from driving for the rest of the day. You are also advised to avoid air travel for 24 hours following your procedure.”
Two practical consequences follow, and they are the reason this page exists. The first is that a ride is not optional — it is part of the appointment, in the same way the prep is. The second is that it has to be a ride somebody has actually arranged: a procedure that goes ahead and then cannot be discharged is a completed bowel prep wasted, and those are not easy to reschedule.
What your clinic means by “a responsible adult.”
This is the part nobody will give you a straight answer on, so here is the straight answer: it depends on the clinic, and the only person who can tell you is the clinic.
What only your clinic can tell you
Discharge policies are written by the facility, not by the state and not by us, and they differ. Some ask for a responsible adult to accompany you home. Some say the escort should stay with you for a number of hours afterwards. Some name a licensed transport provider as an acceptable alternative and some do not.
So ask yours, and ask before your prep day. One phone call to the number on your appointment letter settles it, and it settles it in time to arrange something else if the answer is not the one you hoped for. We are not going to tell you what your clinic will accept, because we would be guessing about somebody else’s rules with your procedure on the line.
What we can tell you, precisely
What this service does is fixed, whatever your clinic decides. The driver takes you to the door and walks you in. The van then stays in the lot for the entire appointment — not a second dispatch, not a call when you are done, the same van and the same driver. When you come out you are met at the door, walked back to the van, and walked to your own door at the other end.
And up to 3 people ride along at no extra charge, on the same booking and the same fare. If your clinic wants somebody you know beside you as well as a way of getting home, that costs nothing on top — which is the reason this figure matters far more here than it looks like it should.
Bring the question to the call. Tell us what your clinic said when you book, and we will tell you plainly whether what we do fits it — including if it does not, which is a call we would much rather have three days early than at a discharge desk.
One booked morning, hour by hour.
A 3.5-hour procedure morning in the northwest metro, built backwards from a 7:30 check-in. The middle row is the whole service.
| 6:55 | Pickup at your door. The clock starts here. |
| 7:25 | Walked in, and stayed with until you are checked in |
| 7:25–9:50 | The van is parked outside. The driver waits. |
| 9:50 | Met at the door when they call you out, walked to the van |
| 10:25 | Home, walked to your own door and settled inside |
| 3.5 hrs | × $100an hour, pickup to drop-off — $350 |
If the procedure runs an hour over, the van is still outside and the hour is another $100 — never a stranded ride home. If you are out early, the figure follows the clock down: two hours door to door is $200, not the example above. We estimate it on the call from your procedure time and confirm it before anything is held.
The two ways this is priced.
Whether the driver waits is the only question that changes the arithmetic. Wheelchair or walking does not.
- $100an hour, flat, when the driver waits the whole procedure — wheelchair or walking, the same rate
- $50base if you only need the ride home and somebody else is taking you in, plus $2.5 a mile walking
- 10%if the clinic moves your procedure inside the hour before pickup. Earlier than that costs nothing
The waiting rate is flat and it is the whole fare — no base fare on top, no mileage on top, and the driving in both directions is inside it. Clinics move procedures, sometimes on the morning itself, so tell us as soon as they tell you and moving the ride costs nothing. Book when your appointment letter arrives rather than the night before: procedure mornings are the busiest slots we run and the early ones go first.
This is not only for colonoscopies. Wait & Return runs the same shape for an endoscopy, cataract surgery or dental IV sedation — it is the medication rather than the procedure that means you should not drive.
Asked before a procedure.
What the wait costs, what happens if it runs over, and who else can come. Open a row for the rest — none of it changes when you dial.
14 answers
Can you take me home after a colonoscopy?Yes — that is Wait & Return.
The driver waits the whole appointment, walks you in, and walks you back to your door. Check your clinic's own escort policy; up to 3 family members can ride along at no charge.
Rides home after sedationWill you count as my ride home after sedation?Ask your clinic first.
Escort policies differ by facility, so check yours before the prep. What we do is fixed either way: the driver waits the entire appointment, walks you out, and takes you home — and up to 3 family members ride along at no charge.
Can I just take an Uber home?Your clinic decides that.
Sedation discharge rules are the facility's to write and they differ, so ask yours before your prep day. What no rideshare does is sit in the lot for three hours, meet you at the door when you come out, and walk you into your own house — that part is the whole service here.
What if I have nobody to take me home?That is this service.
One booking covers the ride there, the wait, and the ride home, with the same driver both directions. If your clinic wants somebody you know beside you as well, up to 3 people ride along at no extra charge — so bringing a daughter or a neighbor costs nothing on top of the fare.
Five options when nobody can collect youCan my daughter ride along?Yes — up to 3, free.
Up to 3 additional riders travel at no extra charge, in the same van, on the same booking. One fare covers everyone.
How long will the driver wait?As long as it takes.
$100 an hour, flat, pickup to drop-off — same driver, same van, wheelchair or ambulatory. If the appointment runs an hour over, the van is still outside.
How Wait & Return worksDoes the $100 start when my appointment starts?No. Pickup to drop-off.
The clock runs from your door to your door — $100 an hour, flat, the driving included. A typical sedation morning runs about three and a half hours: $350.
What if the appointment runs long?The van is still outside.
The driver stays until you are done. An hour over is another hour at $100 — never a second dispatch, never a stranded ride home.
What if I am out in an hour?You pay the hours used.
The figure follows the clock, so a short morning is a short bill — two hours door to door is $200, not the three-and-a-half-hour example. We estimate it on the call from your procedure time and confirm it before anything is held.
Which clinics do you drive to?Any of them.
The endoscopy and surgery centers across the metro — Plymouth, Maple Grove, St. Louis Park, Edina, Minneapolis — and any clinic or dental office in between. Give us the address and the procedure time; we build the morning backwards from it.
How far ahead should I book?Before your prep day.
Procedure mornings are the busiest slots we run, and the early ones go first. Book when you get your appointment letter, not the night before — and if the procedure gets rescheduled, one call moves the ride with it.
What if my procedure is cancelled?Free, until an hour before.
Inside that hour it is 10% of the fare. Clinics move procedures, sometimes the morning of — tell us as soon as they tell you and it costs you nothing.
Is it only for colonoscopies?No — any sedation.
Colonoscopy and endoscopy are the common ones, and cataract surgery and dental IV sedation run the same shape: it is the medication rather than the procedure that means you should not drive afterwards. Any appointment you would rather not be dropped at the curb after is a booking.
Which procedures this coversWheelchair or walking — does the rate change?Either. Same flat rate.
Wait & Return is $100 an hour whether you ride in the chair or walk to the van, pickup to drop-off. If you do not need the driver to wait, ordinary one-way rates apply instead.
How the wheelchair ride worksWhile you are working it out.
The next questions people ask after this one — same plain answers, same published figures.
Tell us the procedure time. We will quote the wait.
A person answers, works the morning backwards from your check-in, and holds the slot before you hang up. Tell us what your clinic said about an escort and we will tell you straight whether this fits it.
Have these ready
- The pickup address, and the clinic or building you are going to.
- The date and the appointment time.
- Wheelchair or ambulatory, and whether the chair is yours.
- Whether the driver should wait, or come back for you later.