Uber the ambulance chaser

Uber and to a lesser degree Lyft have decimated the taxi industry with a disruptive model that lowers costs, improves service, and identifies the few bad apples among drivers and passengers. Now both companies are venturing into a niche market that's in need of serious reform: medical transportation.Some patients need help to get to their medical appointments and Medicaid and Medicare step in as needed to pay for transportation. However, too often a patient is transported in an expensive limo or even an ambulance when a regular car would have been fine. The government recognizes the problem and has taken some steps to clean up the business, but it's tough going.I'm not exactly sure how Uber and Lyft will tackle the intricacies of the business, but they are diving in:

• Boston Children's John Brownstein has helped form Circulation, which will use the Uber network to provide rides to medical visits to seniors and those with disabilities. Medicaid will provide coverage
• In New York, Lyft has been working with the National Medtrans Network on a pilot program

These services will be valuable in their own right because they are likely to reduce costs and improve service. But the downstream value to the healthcare system is even greater: if patients can get to and from appointments more reliably it may well reduce overall medical costs and improve outcomes.Finally, it's helpful for patients to have their medical appointments bracketed by state-of-the-art service experiences, since it will encourage patients and maybe medical offices to strive for the same service levels in their medical care. Kind of like how Disney pulls up all customer service in the Orlando area.

Image courtesy of vectorolie at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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By healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group.