HealthCast: VA Rolls Out Ride-Share Program With Uber

The Department of Veterans Affairs' prior pilot shuttling veterans to appointments is now a live program. The Uber-Health Connect Initiative addresses one of the biggest barriers to access for veterans across the country: transportation. Though they might be eligible for care, veterans getting to and from appointments often encounter difficulty or roadblocks because of lack of ability to drive or they just don't have reliable infrastructure in remote and rural areas. Veterans Health Administration Chief of Innovation Indra Sandal and Veterans Transportation Program Director Benjamin Williams discuss the program's journey from pilot to live program. They share updates and lessons learned, discuss the technical undertaking around its dashboards and APIs, and highlight the future of the program.