Luna announced the results of a retrospective analysis which demonstrated significant financial savings for those choosing in-home outpatient physical therapy (PT) compared to traditional home health for Medicare patients.

The study, the first of its kind, shows that Luna outpatient in-home PT saves an average of $3,000 per case for post-surgical rehab for bundled care cases (both BPCI and CJR), equating to Medicare savings of 55%-70% per case.

Researchers conducted a 12 month analysis among thousands of Luna patients requiring knee and hip replacements. Post surgery, these patients participated in outpatient in-home PT with dedicated local physical therapists providing consistent, high-quality care, of the type administered in a traditional outpatient clinic, but from the comfort of the patient’s home.

In a related outcomes analysis, Luna physical therapists measured the functional recovery of 150 patients at home within 48 hours of joint replacement surgery. Each patient received in-home PT and a surgeon-approved plan to proactively monitor and manage post-operative care. 77% of patients demonstrated clinically significant pain reduction within 10 visits of surgery.

“These results are extremely encouraging, particularly for bundled surgeries, which only requires PT post-surgically, and does not typically require nursing,” said Mike West, former CEO of Rothman Orthopaedic Institute.

Luna’s ability to deliver 10 visits of high quality care at home for only $1,200 per case is an important addition to the bundled care armamentarium. This study demonstrates material savings for participating orthopaedic surgeons.”

“Delivering the right post acute care, at the right time, by the right provider means a faster return to function with maximum savings,” said Palak Shah, Luna co-founder and head of clinical operations, “We aim to bring convenience and affordability to our patients while receiving better care and faster healing from total joint replacement.”

The prevalence of total joint replacements is expected to increase 673% by 2030. Annually, more than $5 billion is spent in post acute care for total joint replacement. However, the overutilization of home health is pervasive across the U.S.. Costs for this form of care tend to be very high, and may lack quality, reliability, and consistency.

Luna operates in 42 U.S. markets and 24 states. Innovative health systems, including Emory Health, SCL Health, UCLA Health, and Scripps Health, are turning to Luna to activate outpatient in-home physical therapy for their patient communities.

The Luna technology platform seamlessly matches patients to therapists based on specialty, geography, schedules, and other factors. Its broad network of local physical therapists provides consistent, high-quality care, of the type administered in a traditional outpatient clinic, but from the comfort of the patient’s home.

In a previous study, Luna demonstrated how health systems lose $2.5 billion in annual revenue from physical therapy leakage as more than 50 percent of patients leave the health system to seek PT care elsewhere.

Through its technology platform and licensed therapists—more than 4,000 in 2022—Luna allows health systems to create a compelling, new, and profitable service line without any capital investment.