If you are a joint replacement surgeon participating in Medicare bundles, Luna On-Demand Physical Therapy can save you on average $3,000 per case.
With Medicare bundles, if a surgeon is performing a joint replacement, they’ll receive a fixed fee for the entire episode. If the surgeon uses resources that reduce the entire cost of the episode, the remaining amount is credited to the surgeon or the bundle participant. Should the case cost increase, the surgeon participating in the bundle must shoulder the burden of the increased expenses. For example, should a patient need to be readmitted for any reason, the surgeon is ultimately responsible for the increased cost in care received.
Typical Protocol Following Surgery
When a patient is discharged from surgery, they begin their recovery at home. Typically, a surgery center case manager, under the guidance of a surgeon, orders a home health agency to supervise the patient’s care during the patient’s first few days at home alone. Home health providers often oversee wound and bandage care until the patient is ready to travel safely to a physical therapy clinic.
However, home health is not an optimal solution. Costs tend to be very high, at $300-$500 per visit. Often times, the quality of care is lacking. The reliability of their delivery is frequently an issue with patients who rely on their attendance. The risk to the patient’s progress and recovery is substantial.
At up to $4,500 for 6 visits, home health is expensive, lacks quality, reliability, and consistency. Furthermore, their services potentially expose risk to successful patient outcomes. If a patient requires additional medical services above and beyond their surgery, such as those incurred to treat an infection, the bundle participant would bear the burden of these expenditures.
Post-Acute Management With Luna
For post-surgical care, patients whose surgeons refer them to Luna can begin outpatient physical therapy, delivered to their home as soon as they are discharged. Luna is not home health, it is outpatient physical therapy delivered to a patient. Physicians who refer their patients to Luna can feel confident that their patients receive exceptional care, at a better value. With Luna, 10 post-operative physical therapy visits delivered at the Medicare rate total ~$1,300, at ~$130 per visit (and directly covered by insurance).
By simply referring patients to Luna, surgical bundle participants can trust that patients receive superior care for their post-surgical rehab. The value translates to a savings in costs, on average, of $3,200 ($4,500 - $1,300 = $3,200) per case. The original fixed fee for the operation increases by almost 50%.
Surgeons’ work is reflected in their patients’ outcomes
Achieving successful patient outcomes requires attention to a myriad of details, which are ultimately the responsibility of the surgeon.
Surgeons who refer their post-surgical patients to Luna directly after discharge from the hospital maximize the benefits of their surgical work. Patients begin the critical steps of mobilizing their joints sooner, leading to a safer and more substantial recovery. With Luna’s innovative model of delivering outpatient physical therapy to patients in their home, patients can receive convenient, safe, and exceptional care throughout their recovery.
The new landscape of physical therapy options
At Luna, we are enabling our therapists to deliver in-person care on-demand, and also leverage televisits throughout a patient’s care plan. We encourage our therapists to work with their patients to determine the best course of action, choose the right delivery form factor for the need, and leverage all technology available to support the right treatment strategies. Start referring to Luna today.
