A Booking Helper for the Gaps in Older Adults’ Hospital Trips

The process before and after hailing a taxi is changing

Uber Taxi launched Senior Accounts and Simple Mode in South Korea on September 16, 2025. Family members can request and pay for rides, or check the route, while older adults can use a screen with larger text and fewer choices.

People who do not want family connections can turn on Simple Mode only and continue managing their own account. They can also save frequent destinations such as home, hospitals, and welfare centres, reducing the need to enter a destination every time.

In the United States, older adults have been able to create a Senior Account directly, without a family invitation, since September 15, 2026. They can choose whether a driver’s arrival is announced by phone call, text message, horn, or headlights. A feature for finding vehicles with a lower step-in height is being piloted in nine cities.

Uber has not announced that these additional US features will be introduced in South Korea. The lower-step-in vehicle feature also does not guarantee wheelchair access or driver assistance.

According to Statistics Korea (통계청), South Korea had 10.514 million people aged 65 or older in 2025, or 20.3% of the population. That is roughly one in five people. But a survey by the National Information Society Agency (한국지능정보사회진흥원), a public agency that studies digital access and capability, found that older adults’ practical digital-use capability stood at 55.9 when the general population is set at 100.

From July 2025, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (서울특별시) also piloted Companion Call Taxis in selected areas. Residents aged 65 or older could call to request a taxi by phone. This suggests that large-text screens alone are not enough: some people still need phone calls and human operators.

Follow one person travelling to the hospital alone

Consider Mr Park, a fictional 76-year-old Seoul resident who visits the same hospital several times a month. He has a smartphone, but finds it difficult to pin down the exact pickup point on a map and choose among vehicle types and payment methods.

Mr Park copies the appointment date onto a calendar and writes down a taxi phone number his daughter gave him the day before. On the day, he tells an operator the hospital’s name, then reads the vehicle number from the dispatch text to his daughter.

The problem does not end with calling one taxi. Deciding which apartment entrance to wait at, changing the return ride when treatment runs late, and knowing whom to ask when he cannot reach the driver are all separate tasks.

A small mobility helper could change the sequence. Once Mr Park or his daughter registers the appointment, the service calls the day before to confirm the time and what to prepare. On the day, it retrieves the saved hospital and pickup point, then makes a booking by phone or through an existing taxi service.

Family sharing should be optional, not required. The service could send departure, pickup, and arrival notifications only for trips Mr Park authorises, while leaving his ordinary outings private. That preserves independence while providing help when it is needed.

Some work still requires a person. Loading a wheelchair into a vehicle, physically assisting someone, deciding when to arrange a return ride after treatment runs late, hospital check-in, and collecting medication cannot be solved with a screen alone.

The first customers should not be all older adults. Start with ten employed adult children whose parents make recurring hospital visits. They already pay taxi fares, but also spend their own time on phone checks and schedule changes. They may be most willing to pay not for transport itself, but for someone to handle preparation and communication.

You could find the first ten through introductions from hospital-escort staff at local welfare centres and administrative staff at clinics with many dialysis, rehabilitation, or regular-checkup patients. Their current workarounds are repeated family calls, paper notes, phone-based taxi dispatch, and taking leave from work when needed.

Abroad, services have combined screens with people

China’s DiDi began a service for older adults in 2021. It combined large text and one-tap requests with phone bookings, cash payment, and priority dispatch for medical trips.

According to documents DiDi filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it had more than 9.42 million older users and more than 303 million completed trips by the end of 2025. This is an example of a large-scale service that did not create a new taxi company, but added multiple entry points to an existing ride-hailing process.

On the Go in San Diego County, United States, works mainly for people aged 60 and older. Users call a free number, and an operator books and tracks the trip. Local government and nonprofit organisations support the cost, so users do not need to install an app or pay a separate fee.

According to a case study published by Uber Health, it had provided more than 162,000 trips since a 2022 partnership, and on-demand vehicles arrived in an average of eight minutes. It reported satisfaction of 9.56 out of 10, but this is a company-published figure and needs separate verification.

Lyft Silver in the United States combines a simplified screen, live phone support, and trip notifications sent to trusted contacts. Rather than operating a separate transport company for older adults, it uses existing vehicles while making booking and problem resolution easier.

An optional add-on, Silver Select, offers drivers rated 4.95 or above, vehicles that are easier to enter and exit, and up to seven minutes of waiting time for boarding. It has not published trip-completion or cancellation-reduction figures since launch, but it is worth noting that waiting time and vehicle conditions outside the screen are treated as a separate product.

Four things to show first customers now

1. Recurring hospital-visit booking helper

• What it does: When a hospital appointment is registered, it confirms the trip by phone the day before, then handles taxi booking and return-time changes through one number on the day.
• Who uses it: Employed adult children who look after parents repeatedly visiting the same hospital for dialysis, rehabilitation, or chemotherapy.
• Why now: Senior-oriented ride-hailing screens now exist, but hospital appointments, taxi requests, and return-trip changes still operate separately.
• First screen: Put the next appointment date, departure time, hospital, and person helping with the trip on one page in large text.

2. Precise pickup-location guidance card

• What it does: Saves photos and descriptions of an apartment entrance or hospital taxi stand, then sends the same guidance to the rider and driver.
• Who uses it: Older adults who live in large apartment complexes or buildings with multiple entrances and often miss their driver.
• Why now: Just as Uber in the United States lets users choose how they are notified of a driver’s arrival, deciding how to meet has become a distinct feature from dispatch itself.
• First screen: Show only two or three large choices alongside a photo of the current location, such as “in front of the main-gate security office” and “in front of the back-gate pharmacy.”

3. Family notifications for selected trips only

• What it does: Sends departure, pickup, arrival, and issue notifications to family only for appointments chosen by the older adult.
• Who uses it: Older adults who usually travel alone but want their children to know what is happening only on hospital days.
• Why now: As people gain features for managing an account without family help, services can support selective sharing rather than constant monitoring.
• First screen: Start with three choices: “Share today only,” “Share hospital trips only,” and “Do not share.”

4. Mobility and escort assignment board for welfare centres

• What it does: Manages taxi bookings, escort assignments, departure confirmation, hospital arrival, and return-home completion in one place.
• Who uses it: Staff at local welfare centres who match hospital-escort users and volunteers through phone calls and paper lists.
• Why now: Hospital-escort programmes operate in Seoul, Incheon, Busan, and elsewhere, but vehicles, escorts, and communication with family members remain separate processes.
• First screen: Show today’s trips in the order of “Before booking,” “Vehicle confirmed,” “Escort in progress,” and “Returned home,” with people who need contact at the top.

Why this matters where you are

South Korea’s conditions include an ageing population, uneven digital capability among older adults, and local public pilots for phone-based taxi requests. In your own market, check whether recurring medical trips break down at appointment confirmation, pickup coordination, return-trip changes, or family communication. You can test a service layer around existing transport before considering whether vehicles or a new transport network are needed.

One thing to check today

Spend 30 minutes calling three local rehabilitation clinics or dialysis centres with many recurring patients. Ask: “In the past month, have taxi requests or communication with family caused treatment to be delayed or cancelled?” If two or more say this is a repeated problem and can introduce you to two actual family caregivers, it may be worth testing a booking helper that does not operate vehicles directly.