Roundtrip Receives NIH Grant to Study the Relationship of Transportation and Health Outcomes for Populations Affected by Opioid Use Disorder

This article was updated to reflect a new partner, BrightView Health. Due to COVID restraints, we decided to hold the study in Ohio instead of California.

For immediate release —

Roundtrip has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to measure the impact of transportation on health outcomes for those affected by opioid use disorder (OUD). This grant will fund a study jointly conducted by Roundtrip, the University of Pennsylvania, Lyft, and BrightView Health to evaluate the impact of Roundtrip’s holistic transportation coordination platform, predominantly leveraging Lyft’s rideshare service, on appointment show rates and patient satisfaction for those with OUD.

Roundtrip’s mission is to drive better health outcomes through transportation, especially given that an estimated 3.6 million Americans do not obtain medical care each year due to a lack of transportation. For those affected by OUD, timely access to medical care and medication assistance therapy is instrumental in improving health outcomes. By providing an affordable, reliable, and timely medical transportation service, tailored to the needs of patients, transportation barriers can effectively be removed for OUD patients as they seek a path towards.

“We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with the NIH and Roundtrip. This study builds on prior research we have conducted to understand the importance of transportation and how patients engage with health care,” said Dr. Krisda Chaiyachati, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and a leading investigator in the study. “Especially with the opioid crisis spread across the country, innovations and partnerships are needed to explore how gaps in access to medication assisted treatment can be bridged, and we are looking forward to working with Roundtrip to explore how their technology solution might offer a meaningful impact for this epidemic.”

As a part of the Phase I initiative, transportation, predominantly rideshare, will be coordinated through Roundtrip’s platform for patients that are screened for inclusion based on four criteria: 18 years of age or older, diagnosed with OUD, transportation insecurity, and actively enrolled in outpatient clinical treatment programs. Additionally, randomized experimental and control cohorts will be compared to capture any differences in appointment show rates and the patient experience. The study will be conducted over 12 months, and rides will be provided primarily through Roundtrip’s direct integration with Lyft, a leading transportation network company. Roundtrip has a national partnership with Lyft for offering on-demand and scheduled curb-to-curb rides.

“We are proud to work with a valued partner in Roundtrip to understand how access to transportation can both combat the opioid crisis and impact health outcomes,” said Megan Callahan, VP of Healthcare at Lyft. “We look forward to identifying the ways we can further implement rideshare access as an effective solution to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable populations.”

Following the Phase I study, Roundtrip plans on working with the University of Pennsylvania, Lyft, and NIDA to publish the results and apply for a larger scale study across multiple healthcare sites through a Phase II initiative.

“Our team is thrilled that Roundtrip was selected to receive this award, and we are beyond grateful to our collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania and Lyft, along with the support of the NIH to bring this initiative to life. It marks a significant milestone for our organization to work directly with leading academics and the federal government to demonstrate how our transportation coordination platform can ultimately lead to a patient’s betterment of health,” said Vinay Nagaraj, who led the grant submission for Roundtrip. “Especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has heightened the need for access to care, we’re excited to get started with this potentially groundbreaking study that can pave the way for further research and innovation into the value of healthcare transportation.”

For more information, please visit roundtrip.docker

About Roundtrip

Roundtrip is the leading digital transportation marketplace for better health outcomes. We provide a simple, comprehensive patient ride ordering software that makes available a community of ride providers who complete the transport. The company is leading the industry in reducing patient no-shows through improved ride management.

Roundtrip is built for healthcare professionals — care coordinators, social workers, nurses, and other transport requestors —and offers easy-to-use online and mobile platforms that connect patients with non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT). Roundtrip is a comprehensive solution which supports all levels of transport: medical cars, wheelchair vans, stretcher vehicles, ALS/BLS, all payers, and all trips delivered when and where they are needed.

Roundtrip is doing more than expanding access to care; we are changing how people manage their health in their everyday lives. As we address social determinants of health and aging in place, Roundtrip is driven to deliver engaged and empowered transportation experiences for our riders.

About Lyft

Lyft was founded in 2012 and is one of the largest transportation networks in the United States and Canada. As the world shifts away from car ownership to transportation-as-a-service, Lyft is at the forefront of this massive societal change. Our transportation network brings together rideshare, bikes, scooters, car rentals and transit all in one app. We are singularly driven by our mission: to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation.

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