Concerns Over Uber’s New Health Service Driving Patients To And From Health Facilities

There are privacy concerns over a new Uber Health service that lets doctors book transport for patients to clinics and hospitals.

The ride share company has launched the new service around the country giving medics the option to book rides for patients to and from appointments.

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However, privacy experts are concerned doctors may not consider the implications of patient information being held by a third-party corporation.

Some experts say medics might not consider the fact that patient information will be held by a third-party.

But, head of Uber for Business ANZ, Sam Brown, told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that he believes the service will be used for routine appointments, discharged patients, and assisting with transport needs in NDIS programs.

Mr Brown urged the new Uber Health was not an alternative emergency transport service.

“The healthcare organisations arranging the rides are instructed to never book Uber rides for patients who could present a medical risk during a trip, including emergency patients and patients with infectious diseases (such as if they are COVID-19 positive or suspected positive),” he said.

Brown also said drivers would not be privy to trips booked through Uber Health, with data encrypted and only accessible to “those who need it to support” the patient, according to the SMH.

But, Dr Juanita Fernando, an academic at Monash University and former chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation’s health subcommittee said she was not convinced that data would be secure.

“Because we have such weak laws in Australia, there will be no protection for the patient,” she told the SMH. “There are a large number of corporates who are working themselves into the healthcare space because it is enormously profitable for them, but there are so few controls.”

Meantime, many vulnerable Australians can already access free taxi vouchers to attend medical appointments through state government schemes, with Uber already a part of Victoria’s free taxi scheme.

Uber strongly advises that the service is not used for emergencies.

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