One-Third of Passengers Use Lyft to Get to Medical Appointments
Photo: Lyft
Many people use rideshare services for commuting and hopping around town. But some use rideshares to get to non-emergency medical appointments.
According to Lyft’s annual Economic Impact Report, approximately one-third of Lyft passengers claim they’ve used the service for transportation to doctors’ appointments. Per the report, exactly 29 percent of riders claimed they use it to access health care services, while 28 percent admitted that they’d be less likely to make it to their medical appointments without Lyft’s assistance.
Lyft’s collaboration with health care centers
Lyft services overlap with the health care service industry in a few ways. Some patients simply hail a Lyft ride via the company’s smartphone app. Lyft has also partnered with hospitals, health systems and third-party NEMT (non-emergency medical transportation) groups. This means that medical centers occasionally work with Medicaid to broker rideshare services for certain patients. Additionally, NEMT groups serve as the middleman between hospitals and patients, booking the Lyft service on a patient’s behalf.
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Photo: SPUR
Increasing the patient show rate
As of 2018, the average annual no-show rate for specialty and primary care appointments is just under 20 percent, according to Tine Health. Patients who receive government-provided health benefits and have a lower socioeconomic status tend to have the highest no-show rates. Younger patients fall into this bracket as well.
It turns out that no-shows contribute to some significant annual losses for health care centers. The average hospital has 62 no-shows per day, which translates to approximately $3 million lost income per year for the average hospital, as Tine Health confirmed.
Rideshare services like Lyft are helping more patients access the medical care they need, while also helping healthcare centers boost their annual profits. As 2019 plays out, it will be interesting to see if this trend continues to grow.
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News Sources: Patient Engagement HIT, Lyft Impact Report, Tine Health
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