Uber and Lyft think they can solve one of medicine’s biggest problems

Ride-sharing companies have plunged into the health-care business, seeing a big opportunity in ferrying the 3.6 million people who miss medical appointments each year to their doctors' offices.

On Thursday, Uber announced the public launch of Uber Health, a dashboard that will allow health-care providers to schedule rides for patients. Lyft has crafted a number of partnerships over the past few years, working with health insurers, hospital systems and medical transport services to help patients get to and from medical care providers, in nonemergency situations.