The next time you have a medical issue or health emergency, there will be a new doctor in town. Here’s to paging Dr. Uber.
Word on the technology street is Uber is preparing to serve health care needs with the push of their app button. Later this week, Uber riders can get flu shots from registered professional nurses for $10. This will be in 36 US cities. They hope to vaccinate at least 10,000 people. Uber also hires their official health adviser: Dr. John Brownstein. He runs the Computational Epidemiology Group at Boston‘s Children Hospital in Massachusetts. He’s also a bio-medics professor at Harvard Medical School. Brownstein believes vaccines are important, but not always convenient. That’s why he wants Uber to bring vaccines to the people. In 2007, Brownstein co-founded Epidemico. Epidemico studies and interprets data to forecast potential health problems. Last year, Brownstein helped Uber do a trial run of this program. They used Uber to deliver vaccines in Boston, New York City, Washington DC and Chicago. Over 2,000 people were vaccinated. According to an article in Annuls in Internal Medicine, 486 people participated in a follow up survey. Up to 80% say Uber’s convenience was one of the main reasons they got vaccinated. Many surveyed say they won’t go to a doctor or clinic to get a flu shot.
This is a good way to get people to get a flu shot. And Uber has filled in the gap between patients and vaccinations. But I must admit, I’m slightly suspicious of the vaccinations themselves. Despite more people getting vaccinated, 2014-15 was one of the worst flu seasons ever. I know. Some medical experts say vaccinations are weaker because flu mutations are stronger. ?I’m no conspiracy theorist or anything like that, but if I were Uber I’d take a long, critical look at the facts before getting involved with this. Yes, getting shots delivered to you with nursing care for a low cost is admirable. But is it getting results?