Providence recently released a program to expand their patients’ access to home physical therapy. The health system is launching the initiative in partnership with Lunaa home-based, outpatient physical therapy provider serving patients in nearly 30 states.
During the pandemic, the healthcare industry realized that virtual care models could offer patients much-desired convenience, as well as being effective in delivering care in certain areas, such as primary care and mental health services. But telehealth is not well suited to physical therapy, Prasanna Mohanty, director of operations for the Providence clinical network, pointed out in a recent interview.
“We know that physical therapists really need to be present in some kind of personal environment to identify the problem, offer a wide range of services and help patients with their recovery,” he said.
Providence knew that telehealth is not a very good option for medical therapy patients, but it still wanted to meet patients where they are and offer them care in their homes. That’s why the health system partnered with Luna, who already had independently contracted physical therapists working in the Northwest.
Using Luna’s technology platform, Providence physicians will match their patients with Luna therapists based on factors such as specialty, geography and schedules.
Once matched, patients can begin having physical therapy sessions like those given in a traditional outpatient clinic, but at home. To ensure consistent, quality care, the same therapist will treat the patient throughout the care plan. Luna’s platform also allows patients to communicate with their physical therapist and discuss their care needs between visits.
“We want to reduce pain points for our patients and ensure quality and continuity of care across the healthcare system,” said Mohanty. “This is something that Luna provides that we didn’t have that capability for, and we thought it was too new and innovative for us to consider.”
For this program, Luna will accept all insurance providers contracted with Providence, excluding Worker’s Compensation and Disability.
Providence is kicking off this program by rolling it out in the central Puget Sound area. Beginning in April, physicians in three select Providence locations in this area will begin referring their patients to Luna. The health system plans to roll out the initiative to the greater Puget Sound area after evaluating the first pilot.
To measure pilot success, Providence will track the following metrics: total referral volume, referral volume by patient zip code, total visits, Net Promoter Score, patient thumbs up/down ratings, clinical outcomes and improvement (through patient pain and function scores) and total revenue/charges generated through the program.
Photo: Luna