Acadia Healthcare will partner with Uber Health to provide patients with transportation to Acadia's comprehensive treatment centers.
The partnership will launch at 19 comprehensive treatment centers in several states, according to an April 2 news release. Uber Health will provide transportation for patients awaiting approval for government-provided transportation or for those in immediate crisis.
Access to reliable transportation is the number one barrier to addiction treatment, Nasser Khan, MD, group president of Acadia's comprehensive treatment centers, said in the release.
"Working with Uber Health allows Acadia to eliminate this barrier and, in turn, shorten the length of time patients need to wait to begin life-saving treatment," Dr. Khan said. "In addition, the collaboration removes financial barriers to transportation access which can be a major roadblock to success in treatment."
Acadia's comprehensive treatment centers provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. The Franklin, Tenn.-based company operates more than 160 comprehensive treatment centers nationwide.
Uber Health provides non-urgent medical transportation.