UCSF Health
Luma Health + Epic Case Study
How UCSF used Luma Health and their Epic EHR to get more patients in for specialty care
About UCSF Health
UCSF Health is ranked consistently as one of the top 10 healthcare providers in the country. They have been recognized by groups like the Healthcare Equality Index for their efforts to provide compassionate, equitable care for all patients. At the core of their initiatives is their focus on finding effective digital solutions through the Center for Digital Health Innovation at UCSF. By bringing together the world’s leading experts in nearly every area of health, they drive rapid advancements in patient care by thoughtfully implementing technologies that enable real change.
At UCSF Orthopedics, two-thirds of referrals were not translating to actual appointments
The team at UCSF Health’s Department of Orthopedics found that only a third of all attempts to schedule appointments for referred patients ended with completed appointments. The problem became worse when patients had to wait for days before receiving a callback from the clinic to book an appointment.
The team at UCSF was looking for a solution that could:
Give referral coordinators the information they needed to verify the referred patient’s details.
Reach out to verified patients and offer them a way to book appointments sooner.
Provide a better experience for newly referred patients with a more polished web presence.
Reach out and engage with patients not active on MyChart, to guide them towards the portal.
UCSF used Luma Health's platform to power their bespoke Patient Connect app that significantly improved referral conversions
Luma Health worked closely with UCSF’s Center For Digital Health Innovation to develop a solution that allowed patients and referral coordinators to secure the information necessary to confirm a timely appointment, more quickly and easily.
At the core of the solution was UCSF’s bespoke Patient Connect app. The app leveraged Luma Health’s rich suite of referral and scheduling solutions and used Epic’s App Orchard APIs to integrate with Epic in real time.
The integration between Luma and Epic in the app helped UCSF:
- Enable referral coordinators to easily collect and validate patient information needed to set them for an appointment.
- Provide patients with an easy and flexible way to schedule their appointments.
- Remind patients of upcoming appointments, help them easily confirm or reschedule if needed, and add them to a smart waitlist if they opt in.
- Onboard new patients seamlessly and manage check-lists, including collection of consent forms, intake forms, insurance information, lab results, and others.
- Support asynchronous communication between patient and referral coordinators to share and collect information as needed, and guide patients through their care experience.
- Reach out and provide a great digital experience, even if patients weren’t using MyChart.
These messages were tightly integrated with each patient’s chart in Epic, allowing them to be automatically sent based on the status of the patient’s Epic referral. For example, patients automatically received a message in the Patient Connect app when their referral was ready to be scheduled.
UCSF has seen significant improvements in its referral conversions with the platform over the last two years
In just five weeks after implementing Luma Health’s platform, UCSF’s Orthopedic Institute saw significant results, including:
82% of their patients
rated their scheduling experience a 9 out of 10
5 days dropped
from the time between referral creation to scheduled appointment
6,000+ patients
served by the portal daily