FORT LAUDERDALE – Lyft has partnered with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Get ready for a huge paradigm shift with the elderly, disabled and the poor having greater access the Healthcare Management System and a nice little boost in volume for Lyft Drivers. This partnership is huge and it’s bound to take driver satisfaction and retention to new heights.

Each year, the Uber and Lyft on-demand transportation platforms migrate deeper and deeper into the web of our everyday lives. We see it happening with the emergence of UberEats (for only a $4.99 delivery fee and the standard Uber rates, you can enjoy Pad Thai at Thai Spice) and Instacart.  Best of all, these partnerships will foster an entire industry of 3rd party companies in Silicon Valley and all around the world to offer payment solutions, data integration and so much more.

Lyft will be able to service the elusive so-called “offline” demographic of elderly, disabled and poor patients who don’t have access to a smartphone and allow greater access to managed healthcare services to help people live healthier and happier lives.

In 2016, Uber signed a partnership with Circulation to provide a transportation platform at hospitals and care facilities in Boston, Delaware and Pennsylvania, however this Lyft – BCBS partnership takes the on-demand transportation paradigm shift to a whole new level by building a bridge with 106 million members who depend on Blue Cross and Blue Shield and their 36 affiliated companies.

The initial launch of the program will offer Lyft rides to qualified patients who don’t need the Lyft app and have insurance through their employer, however it could include patients who are covered by BCBS through Medicare Advantage or the Affordable Care Act.

Lyft is now able to elimated the barrier that millions of patients face each year in getting to their healthcare appointments. In a few years and the on-demand transportation industry integrates into the everyday fabric of managed healthcare, patients will no longer endanger their lives and well-being simply for the lack for access to adequate and affordable transportation.

According to Gyre Renwick, Lyft’s head of healthcare partnerships, “We’re trying to remove the barrier for patients to need to have a smart phone”.

It’s important to stress the significance of this deal for Lyft Drivers. The Lyft-BCBS expands our dominion into the “offline” realm where we can expect to see a steady rise in “Scheduled Rides” for elderly, disabled and poor people; more profitable for Lyft Drivers as well because the elderly, disabled and poor live further away from managed healthcare provider hotspots.

When the “Scheduled Ride” feature was first launched a few months ago in the Lyft app, the first group to jump on board and take advantage of the opportunity was small doctors offices, especially people in need of regular dialysis services; these patients often require a visit to their Dialysis Center at least 3 – 4 times a week just to avoid renal failure and stay alive.

Maintaining a high level of security and ensuring that the collaboration is HIPAA compliant is very important to both companies. When we reflect on the Circulation-Uber partnership of 2016, we can see the infrastructure and the framework for HIPAA complaince for the integration between on-demand transportation and managed healthcare being hot wired and put into motion a year ago.

“The Circulation platform is a digital transportation platform that can be integrated with a hospital’s existing information systems. The platform is secure and HIPAA compliant, explained John Brownstein, co-founder of Circulation. The company is a standalone venture that is partnering with Uber to provide, “Uber for healthcare purposes,” Brownstein said.

There are a few insurance plans that were offering taxi vouchers, however bringing patients the convenience of a fast and affordable Lyft ride will significantly eliminate no-shows. Long gone are the days when patients lacked transportation only to jeopardize their life expectancy on the mere virtue of lack of access to structured healthcare management.

This paradigm shift is a major paradigm shift of the on-demand industry and it’s millions of Driver-Partners because it removes the barrier of needing a smartphone to engage with the Lyft and Uber Platforms. The partnership between Lyft and BCBS inks greater acceptance of ridesharing platforms across the board as it saves lives and reduces traffic congestion on America’s roads.

This is the United States of America…millions of people each year should not have to miss their doctor’s appointments simply because they lack adequate transportation.