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.
No comments:
Post a Comment