Doctors will be able to book transport for patients to clinics and hospitals via a new Uber service launched across Australia this week, as the multinational ride-share company moves into the healthcare space.

But privacy experts are concerned about the Uber Health platform, saying doctors may not consider the implications of patient information being held by a third-party corporation.

Rebecca Jepsen wants to use Uber Health for patients who are elderly, immunocompromised or have limited mobility.Credit:Dean Sewell

Health professionals can use Uber Health to book rides for their patients and are billed the fare, with no need for the patient to use the app.

Sam Brown, head of Uber for Business ANZ, said he anticipated the service would be used for routine appointments, discharging patients from health facilities and assisting with transport needs in NDIS programs. He stressed the service was not to be used for emergency transport.

“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.

Doctors can use Uber Health to book rides for their patients and are billed the fare.Credit:AP

Rebecca Jepsen, clinical research co-ordinator at Holdsworth House Medical Practice in inner Sydney, said she would use Uber Health for patients who are elderly, immunocompromised or have limited mobility, so they have an easier trip into the city for treatment.

She started offering to call rideshare cars for her patients during the pandemic, after an uptick in missed appointments.

“People were hesitant to get on public transport to come into the clinic, worried about catching COVID, but they were more willing to jump into a car,” she said.

“When there are clinical trials, there are scheduled days for people to come into the clinic, and if they are missed it causes problems.”

State ambulance services already contract non-urgent patient transport to third parties. More than 9600 people were transported to medical care in a taxi organised by Ambulance Victoria in 2020-21. This year, NSW Ambulance canvassed a trial using taxi services to transport non-emergency triple-zero callers to GPs and pharmacies.

Brown said Uber was interested in working with providers already doing patient transport to “support them with access to supplemental supply as needed”.

Dr Karen Price, president of the Royal Australian College of GPs, said while allowing GPs to book an Uber for patients was an interesting idea, many vulnerable people were already eligible for free taxi vouchers to attend medical appointments through state government schemes, and the Uber service could result in unnecessary charges.

Privacy and health data experts also expressed concern about Uber moving into the healthcare space, warning about the risks of personal medical data being held by the rideshare company.

Brown said drivers would not be informed if a trip was booked through Uber Health, to protect patient privacy. He said data on Uber Health trips would be encrypted and only accessible to “those who need it to support” the patient. Uber Health has been available in the United States since 2020 and the Australian service follows the standards needed to comply with the US’s health information legislation.

But Monash University academic and former chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation’s health subcommittee Dr Juanita Fernando said she was not convinced by Uber’s reassurances that data would be secure, referring to recent breaches involving patient data held by Ambulance South Australia and the NDIS.

“Because we have such weak laws in Australia, there will be no protection for the patient,” she said. “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.”

David Vaile, co-convenor of UNSW’s Cyberspace Law and Policy Community, accused Uber of being “aggressively anti-regulatory and anti-compliant” in its previous business operations, noting the company’s reluctance to identify as a transport company or provide comprehensive insurance to its drivers, who are not employees.

Sydney driver Mark Owen, who has signed up for Uber Health, said he took the responsibility of driving vulnerable members of society seriously and already routinely took people to medical appointments through the regular app.

Owen is an “Uber Assist” driver, meaning he has completed training on helping people in and out of his car and can accommodate wheelchair users.

“During the week you get more people who are going to and from the doctor and things like that [compared with weekends]; it’s probably about 10 per cent of people,” he said. “I expect there will be more now with Uber Health, both through the service but also because people realise it’s something you can use Uber for.”

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