Lyft on April 15 rolled out Lyft Pass for Healthcare, a program that allows patients to order free rides to medical appointments, vaccinations and pharmacy pick-ups from Lyft's app.
Healthcare and social services organizations have been providing free Lyft rides to patients for the past few years, but some patients have found it confusing to redeem those rides. Lyft Pass for Healthcare was designed to give patients more flexibility and control, as they can now order rides straight from Lyft's app.
Under the new program, sponsoring organizations choose their initiative's budget, each ride's maximum cost, pickup and drop-off locations and when free rides can be used. Then, they share free ride passes with patients via phone number, codes or links. Patients are notified in the Lyft app that the organization sent them a free ride pass, and they can order the ride when they are ready.
Sponsoring organizations can also monitor their initiatives' utilization and spend with Lyft's reporting.
"By leveraging our superpower in consumer tech, we've automated an important piece of health access that allows patients to be self-sufficient and in control, while allowing our partners to focus on the services they provide, rather than on administrative processes," Megan Callahan, vice president of Lyft Healthcare, said in a company blog post.