Bruce Japsen Senior Contributor Mar 5, 2020, 9:00 am
EST
Uber and Lyft are
battling to tap the healthcare[+]
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Ride share giants Uber and Lyft are rolling
out an array of new products and services as medical care providers and health
insurers look to improve health outcomes and increase patient satisfaction by
addressing social determinants of health.
On Thursday, Lyft said it was partnering with
the a fast-growing “social care coordination platform” called Unite Us that uses its technology
to connect healthcare and providers of social services. Financial terms of the
partnership aren’t being disclosed of Lyft’s partnership with Unite Us, which
has other high-profile deals including one formed last year with CVS Health and
its Aetna health insurance unit.
Increasingly, health care providers and
insurers are moving beyond simply treating medical care to addressing social
determinants like loneliness and isolation, food insecurity and housing. To do
this, they need to think outside of the box and improve access to social care
services under a value-based approach that delivers care in the right place, at
the right time and in the right amount.
“Coordinators and service providers who use
Unite Us to make social care referrals can now order or schedule a Lyft ride
on-demand to help patients access the care they need to live healthier lives,”
Lyft said in an announcement on Thursday. “This national partnership will help
meet the increasing demand for health and social care services in communities
across the country.”
Meanwhile, Uber Health this week said it was rolling out several new “patient-centric”
product features that include “direct driver messaging” that allows healthcare
providers to message drivers directly on their driver app in what the
ride-share company hopes will make pickup easier.
In addition, Uber Health is launching
“multilingual notifications” and “landline scheduling” for diverse patient
populations and “designated pick-up spots” the ride share company says would be
important in a variety of locations like sprawling hospital campuses.
“Building off of our Uber for Business
investment in enterprise offerings, these features were designed to help make
requests for non-emergency medical transportation as easy and seamless as the
requests for any other ride with Uber, for any profile of rider,” Uber announced Wednesday. “Ultimately,
this new experience will help ensure that patients can get to their
appointments reliably, caregivers can focus on providing the best care
possible, and healthcare organizations can reinvest their resources back into
their businesses and increase their impact.”
No comments:
Post a Comment