Ride-sharing firm Lyft is teaming up with Epic, which offers electronic health records (EHR), to offer services that will allow healthcare workers “to schedule a Lyft ride for a patient directly from that patient’s record,” Lyft announced in a Thursday (Oct. 8) blog post.
A key selling point for Lyft is that the service will result in “fewer missed appointments.” The company added, “our data shows that Lyft can help providers reduce no-show rates by up to 27 percent.”
Lyft for Epic will “simplify sending rides,” the release said. “Nurses, case managers, and other healthcare workers are already familiar with Epic — adding notes to patient files, scheduling appointments, and discharging patients.”
Lyft said the setup will reduce friction in the booking process. “Patient and appointment information will also pre-populate in the ride request form,” the release said.
The setup will also “measure patient outcomes,” the release said. “Most health systems have not collected data on the impact of their transportation programs. With Lyft for Epic, we’re also working towards giving health systems the ability to generate reports that make it easier to measure the impact of rideshare.”
Amy Friedman, chief experience officer at Denver Health, said the Denver-based healthcare system has patients who rely on Lyft to get to their appointments. “The integration with Epic will make scheduling transportation with Lyft even easier — and that will give our providers, staff, and patients peace of mind,” she said in the blog post.
“Access to reliable transportation is a common barrier to seeking healthcare, especially for our most vulnerable patients,” Dr. David Carmouche, senior vice president, Community Care at Ochsner Health in Louisiana, said in the announcement.“By teaming up to integrate Lyft into Epic – our established health record system – Ochsner is providing a solution that makes it easier for patients to seek out high quality care when they need it and without unnecessary delays due to a lack of transportation.”
Lyft’s expansion moves come as the ridesharing giant struggles to recover from pandemic setbacks. While the company said it saw a 7.3 percent jump in ride operations in August from the month prior, rides in Canada and the U.S. are still down 53 percent compared to the same time in 2019.
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