What You Should Know:
– LainaHealth, formerly known as IncludeHealth, today announced the launch of its transformative virtual care model designed to significantly expand access to physical therapy (PT) while reducing delivery costs.
– The model uniquely pairs licensed physical therapists with Laina, the company’s proprietary WebAI assistant. This launch follows a 15-month validation period across multiple markets demonstrating significant cost savings and improved patient engagement.
Addressing Barriers in Traditional Physical Therapy
LainaHealth aims to tackle pervasive issues that prevent patients from receiving necessary care. According to the company, 65% of physical therapy prescriptions currently go unfilled due to common barriers like long appointment wait times (often 4-6 weeks), high costs, and logistical hurdles like transportation. LainaHealth addresses this directly by providing an initial evaluation with a dedicated Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) within one week.
“This is more than a rebrand—it’s a validated breakthrough,” said Ryan Eder, founder and CEO of LainaHealth. “By combining clinical expertise with scalable, ethically-built AI, we’re transforming physical therapy… Now, patients can finally access the affordable care they need.”
The LainaHealth Model: Combining Human Expertise with AI
The LainaHealth model begins with a DPT evaluation and a personalized care plan. This plan is then delivered and monitored through Laina, an FDA-registered, HIPAA-compliant WebAI assistant. Patients access Laina conveniently on their own devices without needing additional hardware or downloads.
Using precise motion-tracking technology, Laina provides patients with real-time guidance during exercises. Simultaneously, it continuously updates the supervising DPT on the patient’s engagement levels, satisfaction, and progress toward outcomes, allowing for timely and tailored adjustments to the care plan. The human connection is maintained through regular virtual visits with the DPT and unlimited secure messaging capabilities. LainaHealth emphasizes that its AI enhances the essential therapist-patient relationship, rather than replacing the clinician.
Validated Results: Improved Engagement, Lower Costs
During its 15-month validation across commercial, employer, and government markets, LainaHealth consistently demonstrated strong results:
- Cost Reduction: Cut costs by over 50% per episode compared to traditional PT, with episodes averaging just $300 (up to 75% less expensive).
- Increased Engagement: Doubled patient adherence, averaging 20 sessions per episode over 9.2 weeks.
- High Satisfaction: Achieved an 8.8/10 patient satisfaction rating.
- Improved Outcomes: Patients reported an average pain reduction of 65%.
Patient Nga Do, 68, who achieved 100% reduction in chronic knee pain and disability after 52 sessions, highlighted the platform’s ease of use: “I don’t even know how to turn on my TV, but I easily did physical therapy with LainaHealth.”
