Uber Patient Transport| Hospital Partnership
Last Updated on September 30, 2016 by Rideshare Community Support
Community Announcement – September 29, 2016| Uber Patient Transport Program
Uber has collaborated with Circulation, a Boston-based startup, for their Hospital Pilot Program to provide reliable and affordable non-emergency transportation for patients in various hospitals in the states of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Delaware.
Empowered with a highly advanced software, the Circulation’s platform will connect patients with Uber drivers, care coordinators, and also health care providers.
Uber has chosen Circulation’s platform as their preferred healthcare program partner because they have a digital platform that is HIPAA-compliant.
Besides, unlike other new healthcare software offerings which are stand-alone systems, Circulation’s platform integrates well with Uber’s API as well as the other internal systems.
With the many challenges faced my millions of patients to make it to their doctor’s appointment, especially those disabled or elderly, this transport platform will be of great benefit.
This newly launched program has been cited to be much more useful for healthcare transportation coordinators by experts such as Gary Zimmer, SVP, and CEO of the Clinically Integrated Network at Mercy Health System.
How the Program Is Beneficial To The Health Sector and Community
The Circulation’s platform acts as a link between the Uber driver and the hospital or clinic.
In addition, the software allows the hospital transportation coordinators access to patient’s medical accounts that contain their medical reports and personal information.
From the patient’s account, the coordinators can obtain crucial information such as patient’s address, contact information, health insurance and any other relevant health information.
After receiving patient information, the hospital can then schedule rides for the patients that will fit well with the date and hour of the appointment. The software books the patient’s ride, choosing the type of car which best suits his or her needs, such as those that are wheelchair accessible.
As for the billing, that is all handled on the backend by Circulation’s system too.
Circulation has enhanced customer satisfaction by making the platform user-friendly. According to the officials, the transportation portal will allow patients to customize rides based on their particular needs.
It is also friendly to the hospital transportation coordinators since they are enabled to schedule and manage the rides on high demand as well as updating patient data to incorporate transportation scheduling notice to notify medical providers when patients arrive.
This has been made a reality with the help of improvised ride notifications.
Once a change or rescheduling has been done, the hospital transportation coordinators can reach out to the care providers and patients through the notifications; which can be a phone call, an email or through a text.
According to Michael Docktor, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, the Circulation Hospital Pilot Program can help to ease the challenges faced by patients on their way to doctor’s office.
It can help those finding it hard to park their vehicles in a busy city; as well as lessening the strenuous efforts to make it through traffic. The program ensures that patients can pay attention to personal matters such as their children rather than be thinking about the ride to the hospital.
Uber Car Services
The beauty of traveling with Uber is that the entire process will be cashless and all the transacted funds are electronically transferred.
Tips to the Uber drivers are not required.
Uber car services provider makes their pricing available with their fare estimator, so you know approximately how much your ride is going to cost before accepting the fare.
Below are some of the reasons Uber apps and car services are the best option for your personal and business traveling needs:
Variety of Options
The Uber app offer the freedom to choose the vehicle type you feel is most suitable. When you input your location details in the apps, you get a list of all available drivers near you.
You then decide the car you wish to ride in that fits your needs. UberX can hold up to 4 people, while UberXL can hold up to 6. There are also wheelchair accessible vehicles.
GPS Functionality
With the Uber app, you also have the ability to track the progress of the ride as you wait. This is a feature that has eliminated situations where you wait endlessly not knowing exactly where the driver is.
Convenience
Unlike the regular taxis, the Uber app do not have a limitation when it comes to time. You can get to enjoy a ride even in areas where it would be difficult to find a taxi for your convenience.
Although Uber is strictly an on-demand service, the service is available to you 24/7. Depending on the time of day, you might find that the wait time for a driver can be a bit long.
That is why we recommend that you check the app at least 45 minutes before you need to leave. That way, you can determine the appropriate time to request your driver based on the estimated time of arrival you see.
Reasonable Charges
Of course if you are being booked an Uber via Circulation and the medical facility this want apply to you. But if you do decide to use Uber outside of the hospital setting, the Uber ridesharing apps make very reliable alternatives to taxis as far as the rates are concerned.
There are taxi drivers that either refuse to meter or they end up overcharging, and this has been a common complaint among customers.
Uber has eliminated such issues and those to do with meter tampering.
Apart from relatively affordable charges for the rides, you can use estimators to calculate the best ride prices available to get a ride that you can afford even before you book your car.
The Uber estimator uses modern development technology to offer you precision and accuracy when calculating your final ride estimate.
For example, a trip from Philadelphia International Airport to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia would run you around $16-$20 for an UberX vehicle or $25-$33 for uberXL.
Besides, Uber app make it possible for you to cut on travel costs through sharing rides with other commuters along your route when UberPool is available.
Essentially, this provides both cost saving as well as a little company on the way to your destination. By sacrificing your ride comfort and sharing with one other passenger along your route, you get to share the charges making the trip very cheap.
Uber is one of the best ridesharing apps you can choose to use. Their 24 hours – on demand platform and affordable rates make them very attractive to new potential riders like yourself.
Conclusion
Circulation’s new Hospital Pilot Program software can effectively manage non-emergency medical transportation for patients to take riders to their doctor appointments.
Mainly, this program targets those who are disabled, elderly, low-income or any other disadvantage that may cause them to face transportation challenges that keep them from their doctor’s appointment(s).
Indeed, the partnership between Circulation and Uber brings hospitals a viable opportunity for improving their non-emergency medical transportation needs.