Uber Introduces 'Uber Health'

By Roy Sotelo, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, March 06, 2018

Uber on Thursday introduced "Uber Health" that will provide hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation centers with a ride-hailing platform for easier access for their patients and clients.

The new business-to-business (B2B) ride-hailing platform, available from a centralized online dashboard, will not even require the rider to have an Uber application on their phones.

The healthcare practitioners can use the dashboard to input the patient's or client's information, including his or her name, number, and pick-up and drop-off locations. The providers can also select which vehicle or ride type the Uber car would be, just like the regular Uber transportation service.

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The confirmation of the service will be through a text message to the client's number. Bookings for "Uber Health" services can be made in advance, from a few hours to a month early.

Uber created this process so that even people without smartphones could use the platform. The developers also created an application programming interface (API) that can be integrated into other applications and tools by software developers. With this, the booking and the fee will be charged to the provider instead of the patients.

"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," "Uber Health" General Manager Chris Weber told The Verge. "The types of individuals this is valuable for really is limitless."

According to a study done by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, an average of 3.6 million people miss their medical appointments because of problems due to transportation. These patients risk poorer health status.

Uber has also ensured the compliance of Uber Health with the health care rules on data privacy of the US. These health care rules are also known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.

"We built this service from the ground-up in a fully HIPAA-compliant technology stack. It was architected from Day One. Everything we built from a technology perspective was built to fit within the constraints and best practices of HIPAA," Weber told The Verge.