Patient engagement platform Luma Health raises $130M

It's 2021, and still patient access to healthcare is startling low, with 3.5 million people still lacking access to care because of transportation issues alone. And even for those who are physically able to get to the doctor, getting an appointment and follow-up care can be incredibly difficult to navigate. 

Luma Health was built to make the healthcare experience easier for the patient, so they wouldn't have to wait weeks for an appointment, playing phone tag with the office to make an appointment, and so they wouldn't go home after an appointment and not know what to do. The idea is that a more engaged, and less stressed patient, will probably be a healthier patient.

The solution has resonated with patients, as well as with physicians, but also with venture capitalists: on Tuesday, the company announced a $130 million Series C funding round led by FTV Capital, with participation from existing investors. This is the company's first funding since raising $16 million in August 2019 and it brings Luma Health's total funding to $160 million.

Founded in 2015, Luma is an engagement platform for patients to help them better connect with their doctor both before and after an appointment. The company works with specialty practices, which can be both large and small, as well as health systems, primary care providers, ACOs and FQHCs, while users can range from CEOs to call center employees.

Some of Luma's features include smart scheduling, so that patients can self-schedule 24/7 or confirm, reschedule, or join a wait list from a text message. It also provides referral management, meaning that it will automatically prompt referred patients to self-schedule. Patients also receive confirmation via their communication method of choice, and referred providers can track their status. 

Additionally, Luma provides patients with appointment reminders to reduce no-show rates and mobile patient intake, where the securely data for the patient that they will need ahead of each appointment and logs it into the EHR. Finally, it allows patients to chat with their doctor, as well as share lab results, stay up to date with medications, or follow-up after the patient is discharged.

"In 2015, we set out to build a company with a singular purpose – to make it easy for patients to get access to healthcare. We’d all been patients, and we’d all experienced the frustrations that are all too common – struggling to get an appointment and figure out how much it’ll cost; finding it impossible to ask follow-up questions; spending long wait times in busy waiting rooms; and more," the Luma health team wrote in a blog post about the funding.

"But we’d all also experienced that one moment we need most when we’re sick: time with the doctor to hear our issue and get the help we need to be healthy again. Getting patients to that moment was the founding principle that brought the three of us together to launch Luma Health."

Luma has been growing quickly, with 2x growth year-over-year since its founding, and nearly 900% three-year growth. It now reaches thousands of providers and more than 30 million patients, and the solution is currently used by more than 550 health systems, hospitals, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and clinic networks nationwide, including Montefiore Medical Center, Cook County Health, Banner Health, Franciscan Alliance, CommuniCare Health Centers and Sun River Health.

The company says it is now on track to connect nearly a quarter of all Americans to care by next year. 

"The need for seamless and simple access to healthcare at enterprise scale has never been more clear as it is now. Suffering through a pandemic has made it crystal clear that the old way of doing things in healthcare not only has to change, but is actively changing. We’re excited to help catalyze that change with our new partners at FTV Capital, our teammates at Luma Health, and most of all, our customers who tirelessly deliver care to patients and to their communities every single day," the team wrote. 

(Image source: lumahealth.io)