Uber Health Will Get Patients To & From The Doctor

On March 2, 2018, the ride-sharing company Uber formally launched Uber Health, a centralized platform designed to allow hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers to schedule and pay for patient transportation. The service debuted with more than 100 healthcare organizations in the United States already participating in a beta program, including hospitals, senior care facilities, and physical therapy centers.

A Centralized Scheduling Dashboard

Uber Health was offered to providers through two primary interfaces: a web-based dashboard for direct scheduling and an application programming interface (API) that allowed organizations to integrate the transportation service into their own existing healthcare software. This system was built for professional coordinators rather than individual patients.

Using the platform, a provider could arrange a ride for a patient immediately, schedule one for later the same day, or book up to 30 days in advance. This flexibility was intended to cover trips to and from appointments as well as to facilitate transportation for follow-up care, which could be scheduled before a patient even left the facility. The system provided organizations with detailed monthly billing statements to track their transportation expenditures.

Overcoming Patient Transportation Hurdles

The service was created to address the significant number of patients who miss medical appointments due to a lack of reliable transportation. Reporting at the time cited federal government research estimating that over three million Americans do not get necessary medical care each year because of transportation issues. Uber Health was designed to be accessible to patients who did not own a smartphone or have the Uber app installed.

The entire ride-hailing process for the patient was managed through SMS text messages, which provided trip details and driver information. At the time of the launch, it was also reported that Uber planned to add an option for patients to receive trip details via an automated call to a landline telephone, further broadening accessibility.

Pilot Program with Renown Health

Among the early adopters was Renown Health, a healthcare network serving patients in northern Nevada. According to a statement from its director of Member Health and Wellness, Chris Needham, the organization had been testing Uber Health since October 2017. He noted that the platform was a significant improvement over their previous system of using taxi vouchers, which were reportedly 20 to 40 percent more expensive and offered no way to track if a patient reached their intended destination.

Entry into the Medical Transport Market

Uber’s expansion into non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) followed previous service diversification efforts like Uber Eats and Uber for Business. The company was not the first ride-sharing platform to enter the healthcare space. Its primary competitor, Lyft, had already established partnerships with the NEMT platform Circulation and the insurer CareMore Health Systems.

The launch also occurred shortly after a BuzzFeed report highlighted the growing, informal use of standard Uber rides by people seeking transport to emergency rooms instead of calling an ambulance. Uber Health formalized the company’s role in healthcare but was strictly designated for non-emergency situations. The service placed the discretion for its use on the healthcare provider, who would need to determine if a patient’s condition was stable enough for a standard vehicle or if an ambulance was the more appropriate medical transport.

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