Local Infusion’s Annual Outcomes Report 2023

Raising the Bar for Chronic Condition Care

The Status Quo

Chronic autoimmune disorders affect 1 in 10 people → 33 Million Americans

A recent 2023 study found that the top 19 most common chronic autoimmune diseases affect about 10% of the population –13% of women and 7% of men. This is higher than previous estimates, which ranged from 3-9% and often relied on smaller sample sizes and included fewer autoimmune conditions. With an aging population, this number will only increase.

These conditions often require ongoing treatment with specialty medication, and nearly 80 percent of new drug introductions are considered specialty medications.

Healthcare costs skyrocketed to $4.4 trillion in 2022, and are expected to reach $6.8 trillion by 2030.

These specialty drugs, Newer (and more expensive) healthcare therapies and technologies, hospital and provider consolidation, and an aging population all contribute to the ever-growing costs of healthcare.

Living with a chronic condition

Fifteen years ago, at the age of 18, Janet Brum* was diagnosed with a severe case of Crohn’s Disease after experiencing recurring pain in her abdomen and recurring diarrhea and fatigue. After a lengthy and frustrating diagnosis process, followed by many years of trying various medications to try to manage her symptoms, she finally was prescribed the infusible biologic, Entyvio, that has been able to consistently help her manage her symptoms. 

However, Entyvio requires infusions every 8 weeks. Staying on schedule with her medication is important to avoid a symptom flare, and it has been difficult to coordinate the scheduling of her ongoing appointments at the hospital where she receives her infusions. She often needs to take a half day off to get what should be a 30-minute infusion, because she never knew how long she would have to wait, and often receives care in an open room with 3 or 4 other patients. Even more stressful is when she needs to travel, there is always the fear that she would miss or delay a dose because she cannot get an appointment that will work with her schedule. 

Janet’s gastroenterologist told her about Local Infusion about a year ago, and it has been truly life changing — there is never any waiting, her infusion guide and nurse always greets her by her name and immediately takes her to her private room. She can trust that her appointments will stay on time and can actually jump on a work call or get work done during her infusion, from her quiet suite. She is much more relaxed —  for the first time since her diagnosis 15 years ago, Janet feels that her chronic condition care is under control, and not a constant disruption to her life. 

*Name has been changed for patient privacy purposes

The Local Infusion Promise

When we launched Local Infusion, we committed to raising the bar for patients — delivering life-changing treatment and a world-class patient experience, driving better outcomes, while saving time for and lowering costs for patients, physicians and payers. Janet’s story is one of many patients’ that we are proud to have a positive impact on — because patients deserve better.

In just the first 12 months in operation we are proud of what we have accomplished: 

Improving Patient Care & Outcomes

Our north star as an organization is delivering best-in-class patient care and improving outcomes. In our first year of operation, we tracked key outcomes data for our entire patient population, across each of our centers, to bring a new standard of rigor and accountability to an industry that has historically lacked both. 

98% Patient Net Promoter & Satisfaction Score 
We received Net Promoter Score (NPS) responses from 281 patients, a metric that measures how likely a patient is to recommend us to someone else. We received an average of 98 NPS, well above a 70 which is deemed “excellent”. We analyzed the ratings and found that our team, level of service, and quality of our facilities to be the top 3 things they appreciate about Local Infusion.   

6 Days from Referral to Ready for Treatment
It took, on average, 6 days from when we receive a patient referral to when that patient is approved and ready to be scheduled for treatment. We consistently hear from referring physicians that they are facing 3-6 weeks (or longer) for a patient to be ready for scheduling at other infusion centers, across hospital, physician or AIC settings. 

Clinical Quality & Impact by the Numbers
We also track a number of measures around Clinical Quality. These measurements, which include adherence, efficacy, ER avoidance and more, tell us how well we are are delivering care in each of our centers: 

Lowering the Cost of Care

In addition to delivering best-in-class patient experience and high quality clinical care, we are also dramatically reducing the cost of care. On average, we are saving payers and patients 40-60% per claim. 

We took a look at the top 3 therapies referred to our centers to see just how much less it costs to receive treatment at Local Infusion versus a hospital outpatient facility:

Expanding Access to the Latest Therapies

Our team is also committed to expanding accessibility to new, breakthrough therapies. 

“Our clinical team quickly evaluates the latest biologics approved by the FDA and works with our referring providers to understand where there is significant patient demand for the therapy — we then work quickly to add the therapy to our formulary. In many cases, patients are suffering with conditions where there is a desperate need for a drug that can help manage symptoms or slow progression of the condition.” — Ashley Knapp, RN, Co-Founder, Local Infusion. 

In 2023, Local Infusion’s centers were the first to deliver treatment of a number of biologics:

Since opening the doors to our first center in New Hampshire, our mission has been to change the infusion game by improving patient outcomes, saving time for physicians, and making sure it’s all affordable. We're grateful for the opportunities to serve in the communities that we do across Maine and New Hampshire, and we look forward to continuing to raise the bar for chronic condition care in new markets as we expand in 2024.