Ride-share company Lyft is set to announce its hiring of Megan Callahan, the former chief strategy officer and senior vice president for Change Healthcare, which merged with McKesson in 2017, to lead its healthcare business, CNBC reports.
Ms. Callahan's appointment puts an end to Lyft's monthslong search for an individual to lead its healthcare business, which aims to help patients get rides to nonemergent medical appointments. CNBC notes the move also comes as Lyft looks to increase revenues ahead of a possible initial public offering in 2019.
Lyft Chief Business Officer David Baga told CNBC the company's health business represents a "sizable chunk" of the company's revenue, and that the number of healthcare rides has tripled between the third quarter of 2018 and the same period last year.
Nonemergent medical transportation has become increasingly attractive for ride-share companies like Lyft and its direct competitor Uber because many insurers will often cover the cost of patients' rides, according to CNBC. Lyft, specifically, aims to forge partnerships with traditional healthcare players. In March, Lyft signed a deal with Allscripts to allow physicians to book Lyft rides for their patients.
Ms. Callahan told CNBC she decided to join Lyft because of the company's work to improve healthcare access and that the company's knowledge about the complex industry was far superior to that of other tech companies branching into the healthcare realm.
"I was gobsmacked by the level of understanding on HIPAA and PHI [Lyft had]. They had clearly taken the time to understand the industry," she said.
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