Luma Health Announces Patient-Centric Telehealth Solution: No App, Login or Portal Required

Luma Health, the leader in total patient engagement, today announced Luma Health Telehealth as part of its Total Patient Engagement™ platform. The telehealth solution can be integrated with a clinic’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to deliver a seamless experience for providers and patients to launch and facilitate virtual appointments. In an effort to help healthcare providers prevent the spread of COVID-19, Luma Health developed an easy-to-use virtual solution to enable one-click, HIPAA-compliant virtual appointments between doctors and their patients. Patients can easily join the virtual visit by clicking on a link in their appointment reminders via an SMS or email without the need to download an app, log in to a portal or set up an account, making the solution readily accessible across a broad demographic of patients.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant burden on patients and providers as both parties seek to reduce accidental exposure. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of non-critical patient appointments have been postponed or cancelled resulting in a potentially insurmountable backlog. Many specialty clinics including ophthalmology, endocrinology, dermatology, orthopedics, podiatry and sleep centers are forced to close as a result of shelter-in-place. An effective telehealth solution can help providers overcome and address these challenges head-on.

“We are hearing from providers that they have given up on their telehealth solutions because they are too complicated to use, or just don’t work,” said Dr. Tashfeen Ekram, Chief Medical Officer at Luma Health. “During the current pandemic, doctors and their patients don’t have the luxury of time or resources to set up a complex solution to provide and receive care. Rather, they need a simple solution that works, and with one click, allows them to be in a virtual appointment.”

How It Works

Providers do not need to have an existing video conference platform in place. Luma Health Telehealth includes Twilio video conferencing, and supports integration with video conferencing platforms Zoom and Cisco Webex.

Luma Health Telehealth is HIPAA compliant and can be up and running in as little as three (3) days. The solution is part of the company’s comprehensive patient engagement platform that includes appointment reminders, omni-channel patient messaging, patient self-scheduling, referral management and mobile patient intake.

If a patient needs to reschedule the televisit, they can do so easily by responding to the text message appointment reminder.

“We don’t have the luxury of time right now,” said Chuck Leider, CIO, Houston ENT and Allergy Clinics. “Like most clinics, we are facing unprecedented challenges: First, we are unable to see patients in person due to the critical need for social distancing. Second, when we can’t see patients, we lose the revenue that keeps us in business. Being able to implement Luma Health’s Telehealth in less than 24 hours and immediately offer virtual visits that require no additional infrastructure and are seamless for the patient is crucial for our valued community and our business.”

“Many in our community just don’t have the technology skills or tools often required to set up for a virtual appointment with their doctor,” said Samantha Guthman, COO, Alexander Valley Healthcare. “But they do have health issues that require regular care, which for many has been on hold since the coronavirus started spreading here. A simple solution – for both our providers and patients – will be critical to ensuring everyone gets the care they need.”

Ekram continued, “At Luma Health, our mission is to modernize and improve access to care for patients. And right now, access is not just important, it’s critical. We believe simplicity is key to delivering that.”