It’s estimated that over 3.5 million patients are unable to receive appropriate healthcare due to a lack of reliable transportation. This is the sole cause for many appointment “no-shows,” which inevitably leads to more emergency room visits. This has negative implications for both patients and caregivers. Uber Health and Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN), a health technologies company, are working together to combat this issue (http://ibn.fm/zF5o0).
Under the agreement, health providers can order ride requests for patients from Uber Health. In doing so, the patient’s contact information will auto-populate from Cerner directly into an Uber ride request, streamlining the booking process and ensuring patients have timely and reliable transportation to and from their medical appointments. The integration of the Uber Health app with Cerner’s EHR will soon be available across the United States.
“Joining forces with Cerner marks a new chapter for Uber Health and our mission to provide accessible, efficient transportation for patients and caregivers,” Dan Trigub, Head of Uber Health stated in the press release. “Reliable transportation to and from appointments can help reduce operating costs, patient no-show rates and help improve patient outcomes. Our goal is to simplify the way healthcare providers can access transportation options — and our work together will accomplish just that.”
Uber Health, which launched in March of 2018, is already working with large customers like BayCare, a client of Cerner. It’s estimated that this Florida health system will have organized over 20,000 rides using the Uber Health platform by the end of 2019.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Cerner.com
