Nov. 6, 2019
The nation’s two ride-sharing giants are continuing their push into healthcare, announcing major expansions of their work within days of one another, according to reporting by Jessica Kim Cohen in Modern Healthcare.
Uber announced that its healthcare arm plans to integrate an app into Cerner Corp.’s electronic health record system, which would allow caregivers to schedule rides for patients.
Through Uber’s new integration, health-care organizations that use a Cerner EHR will have the option to add an app from Uber Health—an initiative Uber launched early last year to enable providers to schedule rides for patients in need of transportation help. With the app, caregivers will be able to book rides for those patients from within the EHR workflow.
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Uber is also offering rides to Medicaid beneficiaries in some states, including Arizona. Lyft has been working with LogistiCare, and Uber with American Logistics—two companies that manage patient transportation to medical appointments for providers and payers.
Lyft in June became the first on-demand transportation company to be designated as a covered option for eligible Medicaid beneficiaries, thanks to a policy change Arizona’s Medicaid agency finalized in May to allow ride-sharing companies to provide rides for beneficiaries who can’t secure their own transportation to medical visits.
Lyft is now providing rides for eligible Medicaid beneficiaries in six states, though the company’s work in the states varies. In Tennessee, the company is still in a pilot stage and is working to launch services at a handful of managed-care organizations as part of a yearlong study; Lyft is available as a covered option for the other five states.
