Uber & ShiftMed Expand Transportation Support for Healthcare Workers

The platform also offers transportation support to remove barriers for frontline healthcare professionals.

ShiftMed has broadened its partnership with Uber Health, allowing more healthcare workers on its Flex workforce platform to access rides to and from their shifts without upfront costs.

One in five U.S. workers is employed in healthcare, and many health systems rely on ShiftMed’s regulatory-compliant platform to fill scheduling gaps with local and part-time clinicians. 

The platform also offers transportation support to remove barriers for frontline healthcare professionals.

Jacob Laufer, ShiftMed’s chief operating officer, said, "Uber Health's embedded technology allows health systems to effectively expand their coverage footprint. This increases the number of professionals a system has access to, creating a win for the worker and the health system."

Nurses using ShiftMed choose when and where they work and are provided Uber Health rides if they require transportation. Health systems leveraging the ShiftMed-Uber integration have reported clinicians filling more than 50 additional shifts annually.

At SSM Health, providing no-cost transportation for nurses through ShiftMed has helped stabilize acute care unit coverage during peak demand, more than doubling available coverage. Seth Lovell, SSM Health’s system vice president of nursing transformation and innovation, noted, "Reliable transportation is often the hidden key to consistent coverage."

The move comes amid a broader staffing crisis in healthcare. Rising patient volume and a shortage of credentialed workers have prompted health systems to adopt scheduling technologies that offer greater flexibility to nurses.

Todd Walrath, CEO of ShiftMed, emphasized the ongoing challenge, stating, "Healthcare providers continue to struggle with access to credentialed workers as patient needs and volume continue to rise."

Valerie Holland, head of U.S. sales at Uber Health, added, "Through our expanded work with ShiftMed, we're providing on-demand access to transportation for their employees, who often make up the largest workforce in their counties."

Stay tuned for more such updates on Digital Health News