NMDP makes it easier for “superhero” donors to save lives
INDUSTRY | HEALTHCARE
Challenge
As the demand for blood stem cell transplants continues to increase, so does the demand for life-saving donors. 40% of donors must travel and find their own ground transportation.
Solution
Lyft AutoPay makes it easy for NMDP to provide donor courtesy rides.
Impact
- Reduced the cost of managing donor travel up to 40%
- Eliminated out-of-pocket donor expenses for ground transportation
- Automated ride expense tracking and accounting
NMDP partners with Lyft to simplify donor travel to appointments.
For people with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, and other life-threatening diseases, a cure exists. As the world’s largest registry, NMDP connects patients with their genetic donor match for a life-saving blood stem cell transplant.
Since its start in 1987, the organization has continue to grow each year in the number of blood stem cell transplants facilitated. In 2018 NMDP facilitated 6,188 transplants. NMDP leaders were looking for ways to increase donor participation by making the process frictionless for donors to travel to their locations.
The challenge
Registration is a short process, and once a match is found, the typical time commitment for the donation process is 20-30 hours of time spread out over a 4-6-week period. Young adult donors are most-often chosen because they have the healthiest, most robust blood stem cells, which produce the best results for patients.
Nearly 40% of donors must travel by air to an unfamiliar city during the donation process. When they get there, ground transportation can be unpredictable. While NMDP used to have to pre-book all rides and ground transport; today they now give easy Lyft instructions to donors to help them find a ride from the airport quickly and worry free.
“There are currently about 12,000 patients in the U.S. who may need an unrelated transplant. Donors are the superheroes of our organization—they save the lives of strangers. ”
— Nettie Sparkman
Corporate Partnerships Manager for NMDP
The opportunity
As Supply Chain Manager for NMDP, Dina Yushkevich’s job is to make blood stem cell donation as convenient and comfortable as possible. Since most young donors already use rideshare, she decided to add a managed travel program to the organization’s ground transportation options.
Yushkevich began collaborating with Lyft in March 2018 and launched a 250-ride pilot in April. “Lyft’s socially conscious position was a factor in our decision,” says Yushkevich. “The commitment of the drivers and the background checks Lyft conducts on them also played a role.”
The solution
Today, NMDP pays for donor courtesy rides using AutoPay, Lyft’s centrally administered payment method. Donors incur no out-of-pocket expenditures, and the costs are automatically charged to the organization’s Lyft Business account. Because rides are tied to donor ID numbers, back-end managers can follow donor travel progress in real time.
Lyft also provides consolidated administrative tools to simplify tracking and accounting. NMDP managers can easily export Lyft data to Microsoft Excel, reducing voucher-handling overhead by up to 40%.
TOP BENEFITS INCLUDE
Convenient donor transportation
By removing transportation hurdles, NMDP makes it easier for donors to participate in the program.
“The simpler and more cost-effective we can make the experience, the more willing people are to donate.”
Administrative efficiency
Donors and NMDP staff save time with centralized, automated payment, tracking, and accounting tools.
“In the end it was clear that Lyft was an amazing way to improve the donor experience. It was a cost and convenience improvement, as well.”
Reduced out-of-pocket expenses
Lyft makes it simpler and less expensive for donors to get to appointments.
“Lyft has provided our donors with the ability to manage their own transport, and that speeds the delivery of transplants to patients.”
Looking ahead
Going forward, NMDP donors will enjoy Lyft’s continued commitment and support. “Lyft has made our model more localized, individualized and flexible,” says Nettie Sparkman, corporate partnerships manager for NMDP. “With transplant demand increasing, we are working hard toward equal outcomes for all. Lyft is putting in the effort to make this happen, and it’s helping to save lives.”
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