Every year, nearly six million Americans miss or delay healthcare services due to a lack of transportation. To break down this barrier to care and improve health equity, Lyft Healthcare is furthering its commitment to narrowing the transportation divide by launching Lyft Assisted — an offering for riders who want a little extra help getting from their door to their destination. Lyft Assisted is available as part of Lyft Concierge, a B2B platform.
For a Lyft Assisted ride, riders will have a few extra minutes to connect with their drivers, helping to reduce missed connections and enhance the rider experience. During pickup, drivers will park the car and meet the rider at the front door of the home or facility. Drivers can then provide light assistance to the rider, which may include providing an arm, elbow, or hand for assisting with stability, opening and closing doors, and storing light personal belongings. The same assistance is offered during dropoff as well.
Lyft Assisted is a great option for a range of riders, including:
People who might have a hard time locating a rideshare vehicle
People who might want a few extra minutes getting to the car
Elderly patients
People who might have difficulty seeing or hearing
People who might be a bit unsteady on their feet
People who want a hand getting to and from medical appointments
Just like other Concierge rides, Lyft Assisted is not for medical emergencies, or for riders who cannot move, get in and out of a car on their own, or are not mentally aware.
Lyft works with leading healthcare organizations across the nation, including the largest health systems, provider groups, health plans, transportation brokers, and digital health platforms. Over the past several years, partners noted a lack of on-demand rides for members who wanted a little more time or assistance getting to and from the car. By developing an offering to meet these needs, Lyft partners have experienced a notable impact. With initial launch partners, Lyft Assisted rides resulted in about 20% fewer no-shows than standard Concierge healthcare rides — meaning more patients successfully made it to their medical appointments — and improved overall rider experience with an average rider rating of 4.99 stars.
“Lyft Assisted has boosted our patients’ satisfaction with transportation tremendously. Our transportation survey score has increased from the 80’s to above 90 in the markets where we have Lyft Assisted, which is a huge success.” Dr. Nehal Gheewala, ChenMed’s National Director of Growth
"Lyft Assisted enables us to further strengthen our comprehensive transportation network, allowing for greater flexibility in providing access to medical care for all. As utilization continues to increase post-Covid lockdowns, it's important to broaden our strategic partnerships to continue to effectively serve the most vulnerable of our society." Gabe Erwin, Ride Health’s Head of Network & Fleet Management
Lyft also partnered with Open Doors Organization (ODO) to develop a rideshare-specific tutorial that drivers must complete in order to be eligible for Lyft Assisted rides. The tutorial shows simple techniques to properly assist riders who want extra help as well as tips on communicating effectively with these riders. Once completed, drivers can choose to opt-in to provide Lyft Assisted rides. ODO is a nonprofit advocating for equal consumer opportunities for people with mobility challenges, and has developed similar programs for companies such as Amtrak, TSA, and other NEMT providers.
Since entering the non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) space in 2016, Lyft has worked closely with its partners to identify gaps in the existing transportation infrastructure and barriers to care. Lyft Assisted addresses some of these challenges while still allowing our partners to match the right type of ride to the right rider, enabling the best transportation experience possible, and supplementing our partners’ traditional NEMT driver networks. In doing so, Lyft Assisted has already helped improve access to care and provided a better overall healthcare experience for patients.
Please get in touch with your Lyft account manager if your organization is interested in learning more about Lyft Assisted.
Lyft Healthcare
Lyft Healthcare is one of the largest providers of non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) services and non-medical transportation (NMT) services in the United States, providing access to reliable rides for millions of eligible patients who lack transportation. Thousands of healthcare organizations partner with Lyft Healthcare — including nine of the top 10 NEMT managers, nine of the top 10 health systems, the top 10 health plans, and large retail pharmacy chains — to reduce costs, improve the patient experience, and expand access to care. Additionally, Lyft Healthcare is eligible to provide access to transportation for up to 46 million eligible Medicaid beneficiaries across 18 states and the District of Columbia.