After a months-long search, Lyft has hired a leader for its growing healthcare business, which helps patients get rides to non-emergency medical appointments. The company is set to announce its hired Megan Callahan, formerly the chief strategy officer for Change Healthcare, a company that merged with McKesson in 2017, as its health lead.
The hire comes as Lyft is looking to ramp up revenues ahead of a possible IPO 2019. The company’s chief business officer David Baga told CNBC by phone that health represents a “sizable chunk” of Lyft Business, which is set to achieve an annualized revenue run rate of $1 billion by the end of the year. Lyft told CNBC that the number of healthcare rides tripled from the third quarter of 2017 to the same period a year later.
Lyft’s primary competitor, Uber, also views health as a growth opportunity. Both companies have built out dedicated teams in health and have formulated a strategy to work with stakeholders in the industry to help patients who need help to get to the doctor’s office on time.
Non-emergency medical transportation is attractive for both ride-sharing companies because insurers, including some Medicaid and Medicare plans, will often cover the cost of the ride for patients. There’s a huge incentive for health plans to make transportation easier, as studies have found that a lack of transportation is a key reason why patients avoid the doctor’s office.
Lyft’s focus is to forge partnerships in healthcare with traditional players, including health systems, medical transportation brokers and health IT companies. For instance, in March it signed an exclusive deal with medical record technology provider Allscripts to make it easier for doctors to book Lyft rides for their patients.
To that end, Baga, the chief business officer, told CNBC it needed to hire an operator from the industry to maintain and build on these relationships.
