Circulation Health, a on-demand medical transportation exchange that coordinates transportation logistics for health organizations, today announced an agreement with Partners Healthcare, an integrated, not-for-profit health system with facilities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
As part of the collaboration, Partners will utilize Circulation’s on-demand ride technology, which interfaces with Lyft, to move patients to and from their appointments. The relationship also allows for expansion to serve Partners employees in addition to patient travel.
According to a national study published by the National Academy of Sciences, each year, nearly 4 million Americans miss out on care because they face transportation barriers, creating untold costs to the U.S. healthcare system and negative outcomes for patients. The partnership between Partners, Circulation and Lyft attempts to address the “social determinants” that can account for up to 80% of health outcomes, with transportation being one of the major determinants.
“At Lyft Business, our goal is to provide seamless transportation solutions to organizations who want to move the people they care about,” says Gyre Renwick, VP of Lyft Business. “This collaboration between Partners and Circulation is especially exciting because together, they’re working to address the medical transportation barrier that 3.6 million people currently face each year – a problem that are committed to reducing by 50 percent by 2020. By providing transit solutions to even more people, we’re collectively working towards this outcome, and in doing so are meaningfully improving people’s lives.”
To help break down transportation barriers for all patients, Circulation’s on-demand ride network taps into Lyft rides as well as specialized transport providers including door-to-door, wheelchair, and stretcher services. The Circulation platform creates a centralized way for Partners team members to track benefit utilization, patient satisfaction, and trip costs.
“At Partners, we look for technologies that can help us deliver care more efficiently, improve patient outcomes, and better serve our communities” said Gregg S. Meyer, MD, MSc, Chief Clinical Officer at Partners. ‘This new partnership checks the box on all three and further helps us address those social determinants of health that are so impactful on a patient’s well-being — such as access to transportation.”
To date, Circulation is now being used by over 2,500 health facilities in more than 40 states across the country.
