At Local Infusion, The Patient, Payor, & Provider All Win. Here’s How.

According to a 2019 JAMA study, over $760 billion in wasteful spending occurs in US healthcare every year. Here's how we're trying to do our part.

Making meaningful change in an industry like healthcare in the United States is difficult. In addition to systemic challenges, there are hierarchical and monetary hurdles. Providers are overburdened, faced with competing demands and scarce resources. 

In fact, according to a 2019 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the annual cost of wasteful spending in healthcare has ranged from $760 - $936 billion, a figure that equates to roughly 25% of total healthcare spending. 

So how is Local Infusion making headway? It’s simple: we’re serving all three stakeholders: patient, payor, and provider. Here’s how: 

How we serve the patient
Patient satisfaction is measured by Net Promoter Score, or NPS for short. This single survey question asks patients to rate their likelihood of recommending a company like Local Infusion to a friend or colleague. 

The industry average among infusion centers is a 58, but at Local Infusion it’s a 96. 

How we prioritize the patient experience:

• Thoughtful interior design
  The design of a medical clinic is more than aesthetic: it has a significant impact on the patient experience, particularly for those with chronic auto-immune disorders. Local Infusion patients benefit from well-designed interiors that help reduce anxiety and stress and improve efficiency.
  
  READ MORE: Why We Care About Interior Design At Local Infusion
  
  
• Better technology
  Digital health has the potential to revolutionize the way infusion companies operate and provide care to their patients. With the right technology, we’re able to streamline processes, improve patient outcomes, and increase efficiency.
  
  READ MORE: Better Technology = Better Patient Experience At Local Infusion. Here’s Why.
  
  
• 1:1 support every step of the way
  Navigating the world of infusion therapy can be confusing — scary, even. But with the help of an Infusion Guide providing personalized support and communication (which is unheard of in the industry), it doesn’t have to be. Guides help expedite prior authorization, will text patients specific driving directions and parking instructions before their first visit, and answer all questions about billing, insurance, and co-pay assistance.
  
  READ MORE: At Local Infusion, Every Patient Is Paired 1:1 With A Guide. Here’s Why.
  

How we serve the payors

“Payors are in an impossible situation right now. Hospital consolidation is leading to record increases in the cost of care across the board. Specialty infusion costs are growing at an even larger rate. Our care model has proven to accelerate the movement of patients out of the hospital outpatient infusion center and into our low cost settings,” said Woody Baum, Founder & CEO of Local Infusion, “We do this by focusing on the patient experience and provider-enablement for hospital-employed physicians. Each patient we see represents ~$40k in annual savings to the health plan, while member satisfaction increases. This is a massive win for health plans and their self-insured clients.”

How we serve the providers
Prior authorization processes create administrative burden and strain on the healthcare system: it’s time-consuming, and some estimates indicate that staff spend almost two business days a week on it. 

Our Infusion Guides are highly experienced in working with various insurance providers and physicians to get through the process as efficiently as possible.

We’ll reach out within hours of a physician referral and digitally onboard patients in less than two minutes. We then work with providers to ensure the authorization submission is as complete as possible to increase the chances of a speedy approval. On an as-needed basis, we will call the insurance provider to work through any open questions, and follow up with the physician and patient if additional information is needed. 

It’s only by serving the patient, the payor, AND the provider that we’re able to drive change. 

Case in point: if the patient experience is poor, the amount of money we’re saving payors won’t matter because patients won’t be coming to us (low costs aren’t enough to incentivize them). And providers, in turn, won’t want to refer to patients our way.

It’s a delicate equilibrium, but it can be accomplished. And when it is, everyone wins.

Learn more about what sets Local Infusion apart:

• Why Local Infusion
• Better Technology = Better Patient Experience at Local Infusion. Here’s Why.
• Why We Care About Interior Design At Local Infusion
• Take A Look At Our First Infusion Center In Concord, NH