Hitch Health and Lyft released the results of a year-long pilot aimed at improving non-emergent medical transportation July 23.
For the pilot program at Minneapolis-based Hennepin County Medical Center's internal medicine clinic, patients who had previously missed an appointment were offered a Lyft ride to the clinic via text message. The goal of the program was to cut down on patient no-shows.
The clinic loses an average of $100 for each missed visit. However, when a patient uses Hitch Health's platform to accept a ride from Lyft, the clinic pays about $15 each way, saving it nearly $70 for each missed appointment.
Results from the pilot program at Hennepin showed a 27 percent decrease in the clinic's no-show rate, from 31 percent to 22.5 percent year over year.The pilot also noted an estimated $270,000 increase in clinic revenue, and a 297 percent return on investment.
"Earlier this year Lyft made a commitment to reduce the healthcare transportation gap by 50 percent by 2020," Gyre Renwick, vice president of Lyft Business, said in a news release. "We're excited by these early pilot results, which demonstrate that strategic partnerships in healthcare can have a significant impact on patients' lives. We are looking forward to reaching even more people across the country with Hitch Health to ensure transportation is no longer a barrier to accessing healthcare."