This article was originally published July 22, 2024 by McKnights Home Care.
With the growing implementation of value-based care across the nation, accountable care organizations (ACOs) are integral to the concept’s success. It is a major reason why outpatient, in-home physical therapy provider Luna, which employs 3,000 therapists in 28 states, recently formed partnerships with ACOs including iluMed, Vytalize, NeueHealth and Honest ACO.
“[An ACO] is an organization that is a group of physicians, hospitals and healthcare providers who come together to assure a certain level of quality, to make sure that the patients are receiving the most optimal care,” Palak Shah, head of clinical services and co-founder of Luna, explained to McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. “What that means is you’re taking accountability for the outcomes, the cost, the communications and the patient experience.”
Luna’s clinical interventions, which include surgical avoidance, fall prevention, post-acute recovery pathways and wellness evaluations, can be reimbursed through value-based care payment models. Such models take factors like social determinants of health into account, creating more holistic care plans that provide more savings for the patients and providers alike. Luna’s ACO partners are not only focused on quality of care but also reducing the cost of care, according to Shah.
“[Value-based care] is not just physical therapy, medicine and imaging,” Shah said. “It’s looking at the patient’s healthcare costs as a whole and having organizations or value-based care models that bring all of that together. By helping patients receive this approach, which is a very cost-effective treatment approach, it really helps in saving the long term cost of care for the patients.”
Some 76% of patients who are referred for physical therapy ultimately do not receive the services, Shah said. ACOs can improve that number; Luna’s new partnerships will enable it to expand its reach while helping ACOs expand access to quality care, Shah explained.
“It definitely is a symbiotic relationship,” Shah said. “It’s going to really enable ACOs to meet their needs of having good outcomes, reducing admissions and ensuring patients have a great patient experience. [It’s] the same thing for Luna. I think it’s going to enable us to bring all the hard work that we do to larger cohorts of patients who are in need and who will benefit from physical therapy services.”
