Uber launches patient transportation platform for healthcare in Germany

With “Uber Health”, the mobility service provider is bringing a platform to Germany that is specifically tailored to the healthcare sector. Uber wants to enable non-urgent patient transportation and promises to organize medical trips digitally, efficiently and with minimal barriers in the future.

According to the report, “the use of digital technologies to manage care plans” in the healthcare sector is still “relatively inefficient and fragmented. Processes are often isolated from one another and poorly coordinated,” explains an Uber spokesperson on request. With Uber Health, the company wants to provide a digital platform “that helps to better plan, manage and measure medical transportation”.

The service is aimed at hospitals, care facilities, health insurance companies and transport companies. Authorized coordination centers will be able to book and manage journeys for patients, nursing staff or medical professionals via a central dashboard or an API. This will enable companies to arrange journeys for themselves. Single and round trips are supported, as are recurring transports – spontaneously or up to 90 days in advance. “Billing works centrally for the respective companies that book journeys,” explains the spokesperson.

Digital platform, app optional

Unlike traditional Uber services, Uber Health is not dependent on an app. Passengers do not need a smartphone or a customer account. The journey information is transmitted by text message or automated call – in over 20 languages, according to Uber. Anyone using a smartphone can follow the journey in real time via a link.

According to Uber, the aim of the service is to close gaps in care, reduce missed medical appointments and better coordinate discharge transportation. Facilities will have access to evaluations of journeys, costs, and usage to make processes more transparent and efficient.

Uber Health also wants to provide the data “to analyze and optimize processes. With clear reports on journeys, costs and usage, care processes can be improved in a targeted manner and budgets can be managed transparently”. According to the provider, the platform complies with data protection regulations and is specially designed to meet the requirements of the healthcare sector. Health data should only be processed to the extent necessary. Integration into existing systems is also possible via the programming interface.

Uber Copter and Uber Boat

A lot is currently happening at Uber: at the beginning of the year, Uber launched rides with female drivers for women only. Uber Eats is also expanding its service in other regions of Germany such as Hanover, Aachen, Karlsruhe, and Munich. On the Italian Amalfi Coast, the company is also launching an option for tourists to book helicopter flights (Uber Copter) and boat tours (Uber Boat) via the Uber app.

(mack)