VA finds medical transportation fix with Uber Health

In just two years, the Veterans Health Administration has been able to save an estimated $196.7 million in missed appointment costs thanks to a partnership with Uber Health to address medical transportation problems.

The program, dubbed the VHA-Uber Health Connect, lets staff at VA medical centers book a ride for a patient within the system's health platform. Staff provide veterans with the Uber's license plate number, make, model and color of the car and the system allows veterans to track their ride via text message or phone call.

This program has been successful at addressing a medical transportation problem that's beleaguered VHA for some time, the agency wrote in the "VHA 2024 State of Innovation" report.

Each year, veterans miss 1.8 million appointments because they face transportation barriers. Missed appointments are costly for any healthcare organization. For the VA, costs for missed appointments total $4.4 billion each year. And that's not to mention the consequences for veterans' health outcomes, the agency wrote in the report.

The VHA-Uber Health Connect Initiative supplements the VA's existing beneficiary travel program. The agency intended the program to reduce the number of missed appointments, boost the veteran healthcare experience and cut costs for the VA.

According to the report, it's been successful.

Since launching in January 2022, the VHA-Uber Health Connect Initiative has provided a total of 263,000 rides to 38,000 unique veterans. That shakes out to 4 million miles traveled, the VA said.

What's more, veterans like the program, with 89% saying they are satisfied with the VHA-Uber Health Connect and 90% saying they'd recommend the program to another veteran. A total of 83% of veterans said that without VHA-Uber Health Connect, they would have missed their medical appointments.

The program has also delivered on its goal to save costs for the VA, with the report noting an estimated $196.7 million in cost savings.

The VHA-Uber Health Connect Initiative has been launched at around 100 VA medical centers so far, but in May 2024, the Veteran Transportation Program said it will give all VA facilities the option to use rideshare services as part of beneficiary travel programs.

"The VUHC Initiative is a testament to the power of public-private collaboration and innovation to overcome barriers and enhance Veteran care," the report concluded.

Sara Heath has covered news related to patient engagement and health equity since 2015.