Local Infusion opens its first clinic in Concord, New Hampshire

The company, fresh off a $4M round, looks to bring tech to treatment for chronic autoimmune disease

Local Infusion, is a company that says it is looking to do for the infusion space what Tend is doing in dental, or One Medical is doing for primary care: it wants to put the patient at the center of care.

That means upending the status quo, which currently involves a monthly visit to the hospital, waiting 45 minutes to register and then waiting another hour before the nurse brings the patient their medications. It also involves sitting in an open infusion room, with no privacy, for two hours while they get their treatment.

Local Infusion looking to open its own clinics that not only incorporate new technology but with an entirely new aesthetic. 

"If you spend five minutes Googling 'infusion centers,' you will see how aesthetically unappealing they are. The patients treated in infusion centers will often stay for two to four hours at a time, and it’s not ideal to have a substandard physical location," said Woody Baum, the company' founder and CEO.

Now the company, fresh off of a $4 million round of funding raised last month, is finally able to put its ideas into practice, as it opened its first clinic, located in Concord, New Hampshire, on Monday. 

"We’re not just an affordable infusion center. Our care model extends beyond just administering infusion therapy. We deal with patients with highly complex autoimmune diseases. We leverage our relationships with patients to find other ways to improve their care; whether it be supporting referrals to PCPs, Physician Therapists, local support groups. Our care model encourage engagement which leads to better compliance, higher satisfaction, and improved outcomes," said Baum.

Local Infusion, which offers treatments for over 40 different conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn's Disease, incorporates technology in a space that has fallen behind in deploying it; while most infusion therapy referrals are done and managed through phones and faxes, Local Infusion's tech allows for digital, or e-ordering, and an electronic intake process that improves the speed at which it can can process referrals.

That means patients can get their care timelier, which can be a matter of urgent need when we're talking about progressive illnesses like multiple sclerosis, Baum noted.

Additionally, the company has developed a data platform that allows it to extract and integrate data from multiple sources to measure quality outcomes.

"Right now, spend on specialty medications represents one of the largest drivers of healthcare costs in the US. However, there is almost zero data to show whether one center is better than the next. By placing data front and center, we can show that our care model is having an impact, both financial and healthcare wise, for the patients we treat," Baum explained.

The reasoning behind the choice to open the first clinic in Concord was that the company wanted to start in either Maine and New Hampshire, simply because several C-suite headers in the healthcare industry had asked Baum to do so. In addition, the company also found that the care options for patients in those states was lacking.

For example, Concord has no non-hospital infusion centers open most days of the week. At the same time, most commercial payors are trying to push patients to leave the hospital to a low-cost setting. That means that for a patient in Concord to receive their infusion, they will often drive over 40 minutes to receive care outside of the hospital. Local Infusion solves this by offering night and weekend appointments, convenient parking, and zero wait time.

"The lack of access can have a debilitating impact on patients’ health. We are talking about patients with debilitating diseases like multiple sclerosis for whom delays in treatment can lead to permanent consequences," Baum explained.

The company already has its next sites chosen, with new clinics set to open in early 2023 in Augusta, Maine; Portland, Maine; Bedford, New Hampshire; and Nashau, New Hampshire. Not only it is expanding its geographic footprint, though, but it's working to expand its care footprint as well.

"By that, we mean, what else can we do to help patients engage with their healthcare to achieve better outcomes, whether it be through increased interaction with their primary care physicians and annual wellness visits," said Baum.