Lack of transportation should not keep patients from seeing their doctors. Regardless, up to 3.6 million patients are unable to make their appointments because they don’t have transportation or the means to pay for it.
Transportation challenges may lead to poorer health outcomes for the most vulnerable among us—whether low-income, disabled, or elderly. If symptoms are left untreated long enough, some patients may eventually end up in the emergency room with a host of aggravated ailments. Missed appointments also cost money: up to $700 each, according to one study. Though Medicaid’s non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit is meant to address this problem, the program has proved lacking in both quality and quantity.
Enter Uber Health. Teaming up with healthcare organizations, Uber has created a program to provide patients safe, reliable, and free transportation to and from non-emergency medical appointments. Patients do not need to be an Uber customer, or even own a smartphone—the system works through SMS text message and will soon offer an option for patients with a landline only.
Because Uber drivers will not be able to distinguish which customers are Uber Health, and which are not, the program meets HIPAA medical privacy standards, adding a layer of confidentiality that may reassure patients who don’t want to appear needy. One hundred health organizations have participated in the test program, with more to come as Uber Health rolls out.
Do you have patients who miss appointments because they lack transportation? Do you think the Uber program is a good solution? DM us your thoughts on Twitter or Instagram.
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