This article was originally published April 18, 2023 on Fierce Healthcare.
Luna, the tech-enabled, in-home physical therapy provider, is teaming up with Powerback Rehabilitation, one of the country’s largest rehab providers
Powerback provides comprehensive rehab services including physical, occupational and speech therapy primarily to older adults in about 1,400 locations across the U.S. The partnership will help expand Powerback’s capacity with Luna physical therapists while helping scale Luna's footprint. Luna also announced it is planning to expand later this year to in-home occupational and speech therapy.
“Luna’s in-home, in-person physical therapy, together with the scale of Powerback, makes for an enviable combination,” Palak Shah, co-founder and head of clinical operations at Luna, said in an announcement. “This will result in greater geographic coverage for Powerback, along with access to Luna’s thousands of therapists, which will improve patient experience and recovery.”
As other physical therapy offerings move to an increasingly digital space, Luna stands by its offerings leveraging tech. Luna will match Powerback patients with therapists based on a number of factors, including specialty, geography and schedule, at the time and location of their choosing. That same therapist will treat Powerback patients for their entire treatment plan. Powerback patients and therapists will be able to communicate with each other and discuss care needs between visits via Luna’s app.
“Ensuring that those patients receive high quality care in the safety and convenience of their home is truly where we have the opportunity,” Shah told Fierce Healthcare. The partnership could help expand Luna’s reach into new states, she added.
When looking for a partner, Powerback looked for a company with shared values, high-quality staff to match their own and the ability to expand services beyond its current footprint, per a press release.
Luna’s services are covered by most major payers. It says its copay is on par with facility-based care. It operates across 27 states and claims to have become the fastest-growing PT clinic nationally in 2022, with more than 6,100% growth in visits since its founding in 2018.