Ride-sharing companies have earned a lot of praise in recent years for their help in providing a solution for people to avoid driving home drunk from the bar. Those people might have already had regular taxi, limo, and other private car service options, but ride-sharing options like Uber and Lyft have also provided another ride option for people so that they don't have to try and drive home drunk. It's a transportation service that millions of people see as being superior in price and convenience to traditional transportation options that have been available.
Aside from those who've had a bit too much to drink and who might need a ride home, another big market for transportation service providers is for those who need to get a ride to a medical appointment.
For many elderly patients, cancer patients etc, they might need to visit the hospital several times a week or during the month and taking a cab each time can easily become very costly. As well, driving and expecting to park at the hospital for several hours at a time can also quickly add up and become too expensive for most to afford.
Ride-sharing companies have noticed this need and they are starting to look at how they can cater to addressing this specific problem.
At one point, Lyft says that they noticed an unusually high volume of rides that were being ordered to one location every week; that sparked their interest and they looked further to see what was going on. After closer investigating what was going on they found that the high volume was for a group, The National MedTrans Network, who was hailing rides for medical transportation needs; people who needed to get to the doctor.
The group tries to coordinate a non-emergency medical transportation services for those who need it, by partnering with health plan providers. Lyft took the time to reach out to the group to see how they could work together and improve service in this area. They wanted to get together and discuss what a real solution to the problem would look like.
To try and help, Lyft went on to create a web-based, Concierge-type system that would allow the group to manage on-demand requests as well as access advanced scheduling for potentially thousands of patients every day. They've also taken to partnering with several transportation brokers in the country, including one of the largest transportation brokers in the US that's known as Logisticare; they're responsible for organizing roughly 70 million rides a year.
And Lyft aren't the only ones looking to try and help in this area, Uber has also partnered with similar services. And it's a smart idea for them to look to help these customers in this way because there are many patients who no-doubt don't have a cellphone or the app, or any knowledge of these sorts of ride-sharing services.
Helping them to get to their appointments could mean the difference between life and death for some patients and it's a much cheaper option for healthcare providers than paying for a potential emergency room visit if patients neglect and aren't able to make it to their appointments.
The systems that they've sought to create are now being used by social workers, case managers, hospitals, senior living facilities, and others.
Pics:
AFP Getty via Vocativ
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Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/303812
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/4/16418782/uber-drunk-driving-crashes-study-cities
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/business/uber-drunk-driving-prevention.html
https://www.popsci.com/uber-drunk-driving