Uber's healthcare platform has traditionally been a back-end option for providers and other partners to book rides to and from appointments on the behalf of the patient. Through this approach, Uber supported processes like transportation benefits and discharge planning for its partners.

“We understand the challenges healthcare organizations face when it comes to transportation, and know that Uber Health’s scale and reliability can help address them head-on,” said Jen Shepherd, Global Head of Uber Health. “Rider self-booking offers riders more autonomy and control while giving health systems, providers, I/DD organizations, and Financial Management Services (FMS) a simpler and more reliable way to manage their transportation programs without the administrative stress.” 

Benefits For Healthcare Providers & Systems
Front desk staff and schedulers have historically shouldered the burden of booking rides on behalf of end users. Rider self-booking shifts this model by drastically reducing the number of individual coordinators needed to manage a transportation policy, freeing staff to focus on higher-value care coordination while helping reduce operational costs. 

Benefits For I/DD Organizations

Managing individual transportation budgets has historically required manual reimbursement processes and receipt tracking, creating significant administrative complexity. Self-booking helps reduce this burden and simplify budget oversight. 

Across both use cases, one-time policy setup, predefined ride restrictions, and shared funding controls help reduce fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) while maintaining high standards for safety, compliance, and program visibility. And to support an intuitive rider experience, riders can use the Uber app on their own phones to view eligibility, track usage, and manage trips independently—all without needing a credit card for self-booked rides covered through their provider. 

Importantly, healthcare providers, systems, and I/DD organizations can still continue to book transportation on behalf of riders if needed or preferred. These coordinator trips can draw from riders’ pre-set trip limits or spend budget, creating a flexible way to support many types of riders and track all usage in one unified setting; once organizations have set limits and/or budgets, as riders take those trips, both coordinators and the riders themselves can track what remains.

 Benefits For Patients

In addition to reducing administrative workload, self-booking can also help boost care continuity and health outcomes for patients. Riders can request rides on-demand close to their appointment times, with rides arriving in as little as 10 minutes, and early pilot results show an 86% reduction in trip cancellation or driver/rider missed connection rates.