Uber wants your doctor to call you a ride to your next checkup
- Uber has announced Uber Health, a service that lets healthcare companies book rides for patients.
- It's not a replacement for ambulances, but instead a way for patients to get to and from their scheduled appointments.
- It's been in testing since July 2017, and is now launching across the US.
Uber wants your doctor to book you Uber rides straight to his or her office.
On Thursday, the Californian transportation company announced Uber Health, a new service targeted at healthcare providers in the US. It allows hospitals, doctors clinics, and other medical facilities to order rides for their patients.
The news comes after BuzzFeed published a report this week on how people in need of medical treatment in the US are increasingly turning to the Uber app to get them to hospital rather than calling an ambulance - potentially putting drivers at risk.
Yet this new service definitely isn't an alternative to ambulances, Uber Health general manager Chris Weber told Business Insider. Instead, Uber Health is aimed as a way to get patients to and from their appointments.
"It's not meant to be an emergency service," said Weber. "It's quick, it's reliable, but it's certainly not an ambulance. To the extent people need to be taken to the hospital by an EMT [Emergency Medical Technician] we always have encouraged them to call 911 and use that for them to get there."
Uber has previously done tentative experiments in the healthcare space. In 2014, it offered on-demand flu shots in the US. It has tested subsidised rides for breast cancer screenings. It's also delivered vaccines in Brazil, and haze masks in Singapore. But these were all one-time-only, "pop-up" services rather than a permanent program.
Uber Health has been in beta since July 2017 with 100 customers, the company. It's compliant with HIPAA regulations. Healthcare providers are given a dashboard they can use to book vehicles for patients, who can then by notified of their scheduled ride by app, by text message, or even a paper print-out if they don't have a phone at all.
The healthcare companies are charged at the standard rate for Uber in their area, including surge pricing.
But could transporting patients place an extra burden on drivers? The company argues no.
While all existing drivers in Uber's US fleet may be assigned passengers via Uber Health, Uber says it shouldn't place additional demands on them. Because the rides are booked by healthcare providers, they should be aware of passengers' conditions and (in theory) not call them an Uber if it's not an appropriate method of transportation,
"We work with our customers very deliberately to ensure they are only providing this service to people for whom UberX is a good way to get where they're going," he said.