Neighbor’s health condition
In the proposed scenario, my choice will depend on the neighbor’s health condition assessment as well as the distance to the nearest hospital. Chee (2018) states that the practice of using Uber as an ambulance is an established trend and has even spawned initiatives such as Uber Health. According to Moskatel and Slusky (2019), UberX’s emergence in the urban market has reduced the use of ambulances in cities by at least 6.7 percent (p. 824). Thus, the use of Uber, in this case, may well be justified.
If a neighbor has a pulse and breathing, and there is a hospital nearby where a taxi driver can get to in less than 20 minutes, I will use Uber. Researchers note that the recent changes in the U.S. healthcare legislation have “slowed ambulance response times by 19%” (Moskatel & Slusky, 2019, p. 817). However, if a neighbor is not breathing, has no pulse, or there is other evidence of a severe threat to his health, I will wait for an ambulance.
According to Collier (2018), Uber has already started to attract customers to use it instead of ambulances, but this applies only to low-risk patients. If a neighbor is at high risk of health danger, it is still necessary to wait for an ambulance equipped for such cases in order to avoid possible complications during the Uber trip.
Woman is “out of her mind.”
In my opinion, there is not enough reason to believe that a woman is “out of her mind.” She could be in a highly troubled financial situation and was panicking over the possible large financial costs of an ambulance. The cost of ambulance transportation to the hospital is indeed very high, and probably that price was unbearable for a woman (Collier, 2018). In accordance with the consumer-directed healthcare principle, a “consumer is well informed about healthcare prices and quality and makes personal buying decisions on the basis of this information” (McLaughlin & Olson, 2017, p. 8). Thus, the woman made her extreme choice, and both the government and ambulance companies should not be ashamed, because they could not influence it. However, these situations are signs to the government that the existing system of ambulances is extremely expensive for the population, and the healthcare system needs innovative solutions, such as Uber Health.
References
Chee, F. M. (2018). An Uber ethical dilemma: Examining the social issues at stake. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 16(3), 261-274.
Collier, R. (2018). Uber enters medicine but disrupting health care may prove difficult. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 190(24), E756-E757.
McLaughlin, D. B., & Olson, J. R. (2017). Healthcare operations management. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Moskatel, L., & Slusky, D. (2019). Did UberX reduce ambulance volume? Health Economics, 28(7), 817-829.