Yahoo Finance Uber Health adds grocery delivery service
Uber Health (UBER) announced plans to launch a new grocery delivery service that will include over-the-counter medicines and pharmacy items.
The service adds to Uber Health's pharmacy prescription delivery and will be delivered via Uber Eats, according to CEO Caitlin Donovan.
"The way that it works is we've integrated with the Uber Eats marketplace that includes, yes, restaurants, but also grocery stores and convenience stores and retailers," she told Yahoo Finance.
The new offering gives Uber a way to boost revenue from government payers, as both Medicare and Medicaid offer some level of coverage for transportation.
"And so our goal is to tap into those existing insurance benefits but do it in a way where you're at the engagement point" with patients, Donovan said.
Focusing on medical care has helped boost deliveries for the platform, the company said in a statement.
"Increasing demand for innovative patient transportation, critical deliveries, and other mobility solutions across the healthcare industry has resulted in 75% gross bookings growth for the business unit from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023," the company said.
The division started off by offering rides for patients to ensure better compliance with appointments and procedures. The company then added prescription deliveries to help patients without access to transportation. The latest service focuses on a well-known social determinant of healthcare outcomes: food insecurity.
The US Health Department noted that the risk for food insecurity "increases when money to buy food is limited or not available. In 2020, 28.6% of low-income households were food insecure, compared to the national average of 10.5%."
The lack of access to healthy foods can add to the burden of recovery or staying healthy for patients, thereby increasing medical costs.
"If you think about the total cost to the system, we think this is a way to very cost-effectively solve for access across the board," Donovan said.
Follow Anjalee on Twitter @AnjKhem
Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
