American Medical Response (AMR), a provider of medical transportation and on-demand transportation service Lyft announced a partnership to provide integrated patient transport services for patients who need a ride from the hospital to their home or to outpatient procedures.
The partnership will include non-emergency medical transportation services and technology integration that will span across all 42 states that AMR operates within. Now, hospitals and caregivers can arrange any patient transport – from a non-emergency rideshare service to ambulance transport – with a single call or via an online portal.
In many cases, hospitals are challenged to provide and pay for taxi vouchers and other forms of transportation for discharged patients. This leads to an increased in missed appointments, which are a significant driver of cost and delay in outpatient procedures. Through the Lyft partnership, AMR hospital, health systems and health plan clients can participate in “One Call” services that allow the hospital, clinic or health plan to request and pay for rides for patients who do not have access to other transportation – ultimately improving outcomes and lowering costs. The Lyft rideshare services are a fraction of the cost of traditional taxis, and Lyft’s platform allows hospitals and others complete visibility into transport spend, removing the risk of abuse associated with poorly tracked paper vouchers.
“Our health plan and health system partners rely upon AMR and our Access2Care subsidiary to effectively manage the non-emergency transportation needs of their members. This partnership with Lyft provides an additional transport option for patients who require transportation, but do not need the services of an ambulance or other higher level of care,” said Sven Johnson, CEO of Managed Transportation and Integrated Solutions at AMR.
