SaRA Health

Market position

A Kansas City-based digital health startup focused specifically on remote therapeutic monitoring for musculoskeletal care, combining patient engagement with RTM billing and denial management. Coverage describes rapid growth following the 2022 introduction of Medicare RTM codes, from a first pilot practice to practices in 40 states.

SaRA delivers monitoring entirely over SMS, requiring no patient app and limited change to clinic workflow, automatically identifies eligible patients within the EMR, and takes on RTM billing and denial management itself. Its Effector Model ties the company's benefit to the practice's reimbursement. It reports a 65% average patient engagement rate, a level it says allows practices to meet engagement requirements for remote care, and holds an ORCHA rating of 84% and the APTA Digital Transparency pledge.

Technology

An SMS-based patient engagement system that requires no patient app: the software scans a practice's browser-based EMR to find RTM-eligible patients, sends personalized text check-ins based on injury and care plan, and routes patient replies into a single clinic portal. The product is positioned as a Software as a Medical Device for RTM purposes and integrates with multiple browser-based EMR systems. The platform received an ORCHA rating of 84%.

Go-to-market

Direct sales to therapy, orthopedic and pain practices, supported by EMR integrations and by handling billing and denials so that clinics face limited workflow change. The company began with a single pilot practice in May 2022 and expanded to practices across 40 states, with a stated goal of reaching roughly 100 practices. It has used Kansas City ecosystem programs, including Techstars Kansas City and Digital Sandbox KC, and the Nex Cubed Digital Healthcare accelerator, for customer development and capital access. SaRA has signed the APTA Digital Transparency pledge affirming that digital physical therapy services are provided or directed by licensed physical therapists.

Outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, orthopedic and pain management practices and their clinic owners and clinicians. Earlier in the company's history it targeted employers and municipalities, identifying a narrow market of 56 cities and signing a letter of intent with a Kansas City suburb to serve its entire employee base.

Geography

Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri (4050 Pennsylvania Ave Ste 115 #78, Kansas City, MO 64111), serving physical and occupational therapy practices across 40 U.S. states as of late 2023. The company also engaged with the San Diego startup ecosystem through a semi-remote accelerator in 2019.

History

Founded in 2017, SaRA Health initially built a digital wellness assistant prompting patients to complete at-home exercises, but found insurers would only pay physical therapists for in-person visits, so it pivoted to serving therapists working with high-risk employers under value-based contracts. The company was accepted into Techstars Kansas City in 2018 and joined the Nex Cubed Digital Healthcare accelerator in 2019, when it had two full-time and four part-time employees and $225,000 raised. An initial pitch to Digital Sandbox KC was rejected; a later pitch succeeded and the company received project funding in Q2 2021, which it used to experiment with insurance integration. When Medicare released remote therapeutic monitoring reimbursement codes in January 2022, SaRA moved fully to RTM, piloting with its first practice in May 2022 and reaching practices across 40 states by late 2023. In August 2023 it was one of eight companies to receive an equity investment from the Missouri Technology Corporation.

Risks & controversies

The business depends on remote therapeutic monitoring reimbursement policy: the company's growth followed Medicare's January 2022 introduction of RTM codes, and before that, payers' refusal to reimburse anything other than in-person physical therapy visits forced an earlier pivot away from its original patient engagement model. Denial management for RTM claims is a stated part of the service, indicating ongoing payer friction.