Dive Brief:
- Lyft named Buck Poropatich as its new head of healthcare, according to an email statement sent Friday. Poropatich joined the company in 2019 and previously served as the director of healthcare strategy.
- Prior to joining Lyft, he spent seven years at McKesson Corp and Change Healthcare in corporate strategy and business development roles, according to the statement.
- The ride-hailing giant wants to continue capitalizing on non-emergency medical transportation, and Poropatich has been instrumental in that expansion, along with finding new use cases in the sector, Lyft said.
Dive Insight:
Lyft is one of many companies not traditionally involved in healthcare that has recently jumped into the space. It launched its non-emergency medical transportation service this April after fielding frequent requests from healthcare providers to do so.
Previously, the sponsoring organization — whether a hospital or social services agency — would have to schedule the ride for the patient through Lyft. But now Lyft allows patients to request their own rides to and from medical appointments.
The sponsoring organization still pays for the cost of the ride, and remains in control of issues like budget, location and compliance, but allowing patients to initiate the ride frees things up on the administrative side and can help reduce no-shows, according to Lyft.
Poropatich will be at the helm of Lyft's healthcare operations, and is being tapped to help drive its expansion in the space.
Lyft doesn't disclose its client list, but upon launching its non-emergency medical service said it partners with nine of the 10 largest U.S. health systems, nine of the 10 biggest NEMT brokers and the 10 biggest payers.
Both payers and providers often contract with traditional transportation agencies, though Lyft touts its massive footprint and network of drivers as an advantage. Traditional agencies though say Lyft and other ride-hailing companies like Uber aren't able to provide the same services, like wheelchair-accessible vans.