Luna Pathways Decreases Pain by 30%

NASHVILLE, Tennessee—Luna, a provider of in-home, in-patient physical therapy, announced details of a new study, which showed that Luna Pathways, a comprehensive approach to postoperative care that includes monitored scheduling and clinical care coordination, decreases pain by 30% compared to industry benchmarks after total joint replacement.

Data was retrospectively reviewed from the medical records of 456 patients from three Luna Pathways surgeons and three non-Pathways surgeons already referring to Luna. Only patients who underwent total hip or knee replacement surgery and subsequently received physical therapy from Luna in 2022 were included. The complete study can be viewed here.

Through Luna Pathways, Luna’s clinical team is able to coordinate communication between therapists, patients and the physician’s office facilitating faster resolutions for medical escalations, which reduces unnecessary and costly emergency care.

The study demonstrated that in the Luna Pathways patient group, pain is almost 30% less at discharge compared to industry benchmarks at 90 days post-op, and their range of motion is superior (knee flexion ROM 119.5 degrees Luna Pathways vs 114 degrees Non-Pathways vs 110 degrees industry).

Furthermore, care adherence was improved in the Luna Pathways groups as patients were 18% more likely to complete more than 10 visits compared to the Non-Pathways group (patients completed their full course of care when on Luna Pathways).

Additionally, costs were reduced due to preventing hospital readmissions and emergency department visits, as escalations are streamlined via established communication channels. Luna Pathways patients were also more satisfied with their post-surgical care and outcome, reporting a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 91.

“From pain reduction to adherence and satisfaction, the Luna Pathways program has proven to be an effective and efficient approach to managing care before and after surgery—all from the comfort and familiarity of a patient’s home,” said Palak Shah, co-founder and head of clinical operations at Luna. “This, ultimately, prevents hospital readmissions and emergency department visits, which significantly reduces cost.”

In a related, recent two-year study, Hoag Hospital showed that Luna’s in-home outpatient physical therapy care model reduces costs by 52% compared with traditional home health for total knee and hip replacements (source). Participating surgeons reduced their home health utilization by 86%, resulting in decreased blended costs of $2,517 per case. Patient outcomes also improved as readmission rates were reduced by 28%, compared with patients that received the traditional home health option.

RaeAnn Grossman recently joined Luna as its chief growth officer to expand Luna’s strategic relationships with health plans and providers, and in-home physical therapy growth opportunities. This executive appointment coincided with a new national report from Luna, which shows health systems lose $3.1 billion revenue from physical therapy referral leakage, equating to an average loss of $2,500 per patient.

Unlike remote or virtual care, Luna’s licensed physical therapists provide one-on-one, hands-on care in the convenience of the patient’s home. With Luna, patients can request in-home physical therapy via the Luna app. A licensed physical therapist is then scheduled to arrive at the patient’s home for a 45-55 minute appointment, and will continue the in-person treatment at home for the duration of the care plan.

Innovative healthcare organizations are exploring cost-effective ways of delivering care while continuing to improve patient outcomes. To date, Luna has collaborated with Providence, Emory Healthcare, Intermountain Healthcare, and Scripps Health, among others.

Luna currently operates across 50 markets in 27 states and has treated 40,000 patients in their homes, and performs an in-person visit every 25 seconds in the home.

In 2022, Luna became the fastest growing physical therapy clinic nationally with 6,183% growth in visits during the four consecutive years since it was founded in 2018. This is higher than any reported growth during the same time frame from any physical therapy clinic group.