The most popular (to users) and contested (by cabbies) ride sharing company in the world, Uber, announced last week the introduction of a new service in the U.S. Called Uber Health, the new service is meant to transport patients from wherever they are to the medical facility they need to go to.
Khodrocar - Uber started this new service after research conducted by the Community Transportation Association showed that every year nearly 3.6 million Americans miss doctor appointments due to a lack of reliable means of transport.
The main difference between Uber’s regular services and Health is that rides can be scheduled for up to 30 days in advance. Also, patients using it would not need a smartphone app, as the scheduling can be done via text message or by direct call, be it to a landline or a mobile.
Uber says that the beta version of the service is currently being used by over 100 healthcare organizations in the U.S, including hospitals, clinics, rehab centers, senior care facilities, home care centers, and physical therapy centers.
"If there are people who are missing their appointments because they’re using an unreliable bus service to get to and from their healthcare provider, this is a great solution for them,” Chris Weber, Uber Health’s general manager told The Verge.
The new market targeted by Uber is a huge one. The Transit Cooperative Research Program says in a research that the non-medical-emergency medical transportation segment is worth more than $3 billion.
Uber has not yet announced whether the Health service would be made available in other countries, but it's likely that soon the company will try to expand its newest offering abroad as well.
The company make public on Thursday the dashboard and API which are to be used by health care organizations to enable easier integrations into existing healthcare products.
Source: AutoEvolution
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