4 ms·

Sidecar doesn't get enough credit for starting the rideshare movement. (Uber started the mobile-calling movement, but were black cars and TNC compliant until th

by tzier 11y ago

Sidecar doesn't get enough credit for starting the rideshare movement. (Uber started the mobile-calling movement, but were black cars and TNC compliant until they started UberX.) Sidecar was often were piloting products a half year before Uber and Lyft implemented them (ridesharing, Shared Rides, etc). I think Uber and Lyft won since (a) Uber was first and had an extra 2 years of brand recognition already, and (b) Lyft had superior marketing in their early days (bright pink mustaches, mandatory fist bumps). As Uber/Lyft raised more money, they caught up more - though Sidecar was still first in a lot of products (Sidecar Deliveries, having HIPAA compliant drivers, etc.) If I were them, I would explore the niche of regulation-friendly drivers - e.g. HIPAA certified drivers. They've already started doing this, but I'm sure their consumer facing product has bogged down product development and such. The Medium post isn't clear on if they're laying off team and such, does anyone know? Edit: I would also explore using their logistics infrastructure and making it available to any businesses that have their own delivery fleets, but don't know how to optimize them. There was a Techstars co doing this (https://routific.com/ https://routific.com/) but I imagine Sidecar is much further along.

morgante 11y ago
How exactly is a driver HIPAA compliant?
- chrischen 11y ago
  Probably in regards to ambulances. After getting sedation they explicitly told me they won't let me be picked up by Uber/Lyft.
- BostonEnginerd 11y ago
  I think it has more to do with handicap accessibility rather than anything HIPAA related.
  - tzier 11y ago
    Not handicap accessible - Uber/Lyft are legally required to have those options so will have them as an option. Wouldn't be a big enough market for that otherwise, and would probably be illegal due to illegal price discrimination.
vitd 11y ago
Can you expand on what a HIPAA-compliant driver is? (I know what HIPPA is, I don't understand what that has to do with driving people around.)
- tzier 11y ago
  HIPAA basically requires a bunch of safeguards to be in place if you fall under its regulations. So if a prescription delivery company (like ScriptDash, NimbleRX, etc) want to send a delivery person with a prescription, the driver needs to be HIPAA certified. Otherwise the company would be in massive trouble for violating HIPAA requirements. It's not a common enough use case for Uber/Lyft's consumer facing services, so I don't think it's wise for them to get into it; they're better going after UberEATS/etc opportunities. The idea would be ridesharing for businesses who have more strict requirements, kind of like Box vs Dropbox. FWIW, you still deal with the difficult people operations aspect of ridesharing in that case (drivers are hard to recruit and manage, and are city specific), so I'd probably go after outsourcing the logistics platform for businesses with existing delivery mechanisms. E.g. bring UPS's 'no left turns' technology to companies that can't develop it internally.
- erichurkman 11y ago
  Most medical offices won't let you use regular taxis (or Uber, etc) after major procedures. They require a personal driver (family member, friend) that they can provide after-care instructions ("if his face starts bleeding, turn around immediately"). There are dedicated medical taxi services that serve this niche, typically drivers have some basic training, have easily accessible vehicles, etc.
  - cballard 11y ago
    Uh, what happens if you walk out the door and hail a cab? How do they stop you?
    - koenigdavidmj 11y ago
      They note that you are behaving outside medical advice, and mention that your insurance might as a result refuse to pay for the procedure. Whether this is actually the case is a different matter, but that veiled threat should be enough for most.
dvetrano 11y ago
I'd like to mention that Onfleet provides delivery infrastructure today, spanning operational components (realtime dashboard, logistics backend, driver apps) through the end-customer experience (SMS notifications, ETA, driver tracking) and more (disclosure: I am Co-founder & CTO at Onfleet). https://onfleet.com https://onfleet.com

by tzier 11y ago

morgante 11y ago

How exactly is a driver HIPAA compliant?

chrischen 11y ago
Probably in regards to ambulances. After getting sedation they explicitly told me they won't let me be picked up by Uber/Lyft.
BostonEnginerd 11y ago
I think it has more to do with handicap accessibility rather than anything HIPAA related.
- tzier 11y ago
  Not handicap accessible - Uber/Lyft are legally required to have those options so will have them as an option. Wouldn't be a big enough market for that otherwise, and would probably be illegal due to illegal price discrimination.

vitd 11y ago

Can you expand on what a HIPAA-compliant driver is? (I know what HIPPA is, I don't understand what that has to do with driving people around.)

tzier 11y ago
HIPAA basically requires a bunch of safeguards to be in place if you fall under its regulations. So if a prescription delivery company (like ScriptDash, NimbleRX, etc) want to send a delivery person with a prescription, the driver needs to be HIPAA certified. Otherwise the company would be in massive trouble for violating HIPAA requirements. It's not a common enough use case for Uber/Lyft's consumer facing services, so I don't think it's wise for them to get into it; they're better going after UberEATS/etc opportunities. The idea would be ridesharing for businesses who have more strict requirements, kind of like Box vs Dropbox. FWIW, you still deal with the difficult people operations aspect of ridesharing in that case (drivers are hard to recruit and manage, and are city specific), so I'd probably go after outsourcing the logistics platform for businesses with existing delivery mechanisms. E.g. bring UPS's 'no left turns' technology to companies that can't develop it internally.
erichurkman 11y ago
Most medical offices won't let you use regular taxis (or Uber, etc) after major procedures. They require a personal driver (family member, friend) that they can provide after-care instructions ("if his face starts bleeding, turn around immediately"). There are dedicated medical taxi services that serve this niche, typically drivers have some basic training, have easily accessible vehicles, etc.
- cballard 11y ago
  Uh, what happens if you walk out the door and hail a cab? How do they stop you?
  - koenigdavidmj 11y ago
    They note that you are behaving outside medical advice, and mention that your insurance might as a result refuse to pay for the procedure. Whether this is actually the case is a different matter, but that veiled threat should be enough for most.

dvetrano 11y ago

I'd like to mention that Onfleet provides delivery infrastructure today, spanning operational components (realtime dashboard, logistics backend, driver apps) through the end-customer experience (SMS notifications, ETA, driver tracking) and more (disclosure: I am Co-founder & CTO at Onfleet). https://onfleet.com https://onfleet.com