Twenty-nine
percent of Lyft users have used the tool to get to a doctor's appointment when
they faced medical transportation barriers.
By Sara Heath
January 29,
2019 - Using ridesharing service Lyft to get to medical appointments
has made patient care access less of a hassle, emphasizing the tool’s use as
non-emergency medical transportation, according to Lyft’s annual Economic
Impact Report.
The report, which
included survey responses from over 30,000 Lyft passengers, outlined how the
rideshare service has impacted the communities in which it is used. Currently,
Lyft has been adopted in 95 percent of the US population, the report stated.
Lyft has been a boon
not only for individuals getting to work or social engagements, but for
patients accessing care, as well. Medical transportation is an important social determinant of health. When
patients cannot get transportation to their medical appointments, they often
forego care, which can lead to other adverse health impacts.
Rideshare services
like Lyft have addressed that issue. Twenty-nine percent of survey respondents
said they have used Lyft successfully to get to their medical appointments.
Twenty-eight percent of healthcare riders said that without Lyft, they would
not be able to make it to their medical appointments at all.
Using Lyft to attend
medical appointments can take multiple different forms. First, a patient may
call a Lyft using their own smartphone Lyft app, brokering the exchange on
their own.
But Lyft has also
emerged as a key player in the healthcare market, building community health
partnerships with hospitals and health systems across the country. In these
cases, a hospital or health system manager can broker the ride on the patient’s
behalf. Many state Medicaid programs have similar capabilities.
Finally, Lyft has
made partnerships with many non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT)
companies. These companies serve as rideshare brokers between patients and
providers. If a clinic flags a patient as potentially in need of a ride, that
NEMT group will arrange the ride on the patient’s and hospital’s behalfs.
These arrangements
have improved patients’ experiences of care, the Lyft report pointed out. About
three-quarters of respondents said using Lyft for their medical appointments
made care access less of a hassle.
Thirty-six percent of
respondents said that after beginning to use Lyft to attend their medical appointments,
they went to urgent care less frequently.
This is likely
because patients had the transportation means to attend appointments with their
primary care or chronic care providers instead of having to mitigate crises in
urgent care. This is ultimately less costly for the patient and healthcare
industry at large.
What’s more, the use
of Lyft has proven effective at making the roads safer, the report
acknowledged. Seventy-one percent of riders said they are less likely to drive
when impaired by a substance such as drugs or alcohol because Lyft is a
transportation option.
Lyft, and other
ridesharing apps, have proven effective at addressing driving under the
influence as a public health issue.
Separate reports have
corroborated this fact. A 2017 working paper out of the University of
Kansas suggested that the public safety
benefits of Lyft and Uber have resulted in lower healthcare utilization. Specifically,
the decrease in impaired driving may have led to fewer ambulance rides.
Ultimately, these
survey results indicate Lyft has an emerging public health good. The service is
useful for addressing the social determinants of health and connecting patients
with necessary medical transportation. This helps create healthier communities
as a lower cost footprint, Lyft said.
Some studies have
indicated that rideshare companies have mixed effectiveness at addressing
medical transportation barriers. A 2018 study published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine indicated that
rideshare programs are not, in fact, effective at reducing patient no-shows or
missed appointments.
Additionally,
rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft are not always effective at offering
transportation to patients with special transportation needs, including those
who use a wheelchair or who have bulky medical equipment.
However, the JAMA
study’s critics pointed out some study flaws. The researchers primarily looked
at patients who already had a relationship with a primary care provider and who
had a history of attending their medical appointments.
Lyft and Uber have
proven effective at serving patients who otherwise would not attend the doctor.
In doing so, these rideshare companies begin to address the fringes of
healthcare who in many cases rack up the highest costs.
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