Outpatient Therapy – Better Delivery, Better Outcomes

Outpatient therapy has a surprisingly big footprint. Consider these stats:¹:

• There are 38,000 outpatient therapy clinics in the US
• Clinics average $886,000 in revenue annually
• The outpatient therapy market will reach $45.7 billion by 2023

There’s clearly a huge demand for outpatient therapy, which makes sense when over half the US population suffers from a musculoskeletal disorder (back pain, arthritis, osteoporosis etc). But just because the industry is growing doesn’t mean it’s working as well as it could or should for the patients who need physical therapy or the health systems that need to care for their patients.

On-Demand: A New Standard for Outpatient Therapy

There are so many outpatient therapy clinics in the US because historically that’s been the only way to receive care. To access outpatient therapy, someone has to find a local clinic, schedule an appointment, fight traffic to get there, walk into the clinic, get back home, and then repeat the process for two to three times per week for weeks on end - all while suffering from an issue that makes mobility difficult. With all the hoops that people jump through to get outpatient therapy, it’s clear why some decide to skip therapy or stop too soon.² It’s a hassle, and in the time of COVID-19, there’s even less desire to visit a clinic in-person. 

On-demand outpatient therapy uses the patient’s home, office, or gym as the clinic. The physical therapist travels to the patient’s location (not the other way around) where they perform 45-55 minutes of 1:1 care that’s customized for the patient. The same therapist returns each time, and the patient learns exercises he or she can do at home in-between appointments.

Thanks to a better delivery method, the inconvenience of outpatient therapy disappears. The result: better outcomes for all involved.

Better Outcomes Via On-Demand Delivery

On-demand delivery eliminates the barriers to access³ that keep people from starting or completing physical therapy:

• More accessible – On-demand care takes 48 hours to access on average, compared to 24 days to start your first appointment in a clinic.
• Broad addressability – 87% of physical therapy visits can happen in the home.⁴ When given the option for on-demand care, 92% of patients engage in care.
• Better adherence – The inconvenience of in-clinic care causes 70% of patients to self-discharge and prematurely end care. On-demand care increases adherence rates by 50% so that far more patients complete the optimal 10-13 appointments.
• Faster recovery – Patients average 45% pain improvement and 52% functional improvement after 10 on-demand visits – both significantly higher than the averages for in-clinic  therapy.

When more patients complete necessary outpatient therapy, fewer patients need expensive home healthcare. For a sample of just 150 patients, on-demand delivery saved a health system $450,000 according to our research.⁵

Everyone benefits when outpatient therapy expands outside the clinical setting.. Explore the impact it could have on your health system in this whitepaper. And learn how Luna makes on-demand delivery possible for any health system. Download your free copy here.

Reference List

1: Article U.S. Physical Therapy Clinics Constitute a Growing $34 Billion Industry

2: Study Access to Physical Therapy in a Medically Underserved, Urban Community

3: Whitepaper How Luna’s On-Demand Physical Therapy Practice Delivers Comprehensive Care, High Adherence, and Better Outcomes

4: Scripps 2020 analysis of outpatient case volume and applicability of on-demand

5: Whitepaper Luna Improves Performance of Bundled Payments for Total Hip and Knee Replacement