Uber and Lyft Think They Can Solve One of Medicine's Biggest Problems

Uber on Thursday announced the public launch of Uber Health, a dashboard to let healthcare providers schedule rides for customers, while a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found offering to schedule free Lyft rides to and from primary care appointments did not lower the number of missed appointments compared to a cohort not offered the service, reports the Washington Post . "I think we as providers tend to apply our choices of how we live our lives, and we kind of impose it on care recipients' lives," says the University of Pennsylvania's Krisda H. Chaiyachati. "We probably all use ride-sharing services — I used one this morning. We think the same thing is going to apply to a sick person or a poor person, and that might not be true." Chaiyachati noted the study might offer insights about what kinds of people could benefit from ride-sharing help. It could be possible that ride-sharing might be more beneficial in scenarios where adherence to appointments may be more critical, such as oncology. Lyft Business' Gyre Renwick says Lyft has been targeting groups of people, including seniors, in areas underserved by public transit and people for whom missing an appointment could have major health repercussions and lead to costly hospitalizations. Among the lessons gained from Uber's health service pilot is that many customers who used the service have not used Uber before and may lack a smartphone.