Joseph Mercorella,CEO and Co-founder, Lumary
When it comes to implementing technology, the healthcare industry has been historically slow to adapt to any changes. However, the pressure to innovate is growing now more than ever. It is imperative for health care service providers to embrace digital transformation to truly reimagine the way they manage and deliver care. Joseph Mercorella, Co-founder and CEO of a software company Lumary, along with Matthew English, Co-founder, and CTO, identified a growing need for advanced software solutions to meet the Australian healthcare industry’s specific requirements. With a background in providing application development services to the disability and aged care industry, the two entrepreneurs could see that the sector would soon require technology solutions to manage the complex relationship between service providers and the people that need care in Australia. For individuals to receive better care and more access to health services there needs to be more choice and control. This is quickly becoming the future standard sought out by governments globally, as is the case with the NDIS in Australia and the ONC Cure Act in the US.
The Australian disability industry was completely upturned with the introduction of a new government funding model in the form of an insurance scheme. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was introduced to better manage healthcare service delivery for people living with disabilities by necessitating control over price, product, quality, and compliance.
This created a new set of challenges for service providers operating in the disability space. There was a reduction in funding and overall operating expenses and a greater need to improve operational efficiencies. Unfortunately, most organizations’ operating systems were either paper-based, on-premises, or made up of several independent applications of interoperability. This current state meant that updating existing tech would not solve the inefficiencies, inaccessibility, and poor quality of data, all to the detriment of the people that require care. In 2015, the early stages of the Lumary product went into development and for FY20, the healthcare platform managed around $2B in funds spent in the NDIS.
Lumary’s success is built on its customer-centric care and contract management solution powered by the world’s number one SaaS cloud-based platform in Salesforce, and is one of its fastest-growing AppExchange Partners in the Asia Pacific region. The platform incorporates best-in-class technology systems, under a single commercial and managed integration model to provide end-to-end operational capability. Today, the company is considered to be the leading software platform supporting the Australian healthcare sector to digitally transform, integrate, and succeed. The growing team is spread across Australia with the headquarter in Adelaide, and offices in Sydney, Melbourne, and San Francisco.
Unprecedented Solutions and Services of Lumary
Lumary Care Management (Lumary CM) is the heart of the multi-purpose platform and allows disability and aged care providers to consolidate multiple data sources and improve the efficiency of tracking and reporting while enabling participant-centered care. Providers can maintain compliance and claim from funding bodies including the NDIS and HCP (Home Care Package) for aged care service delivery. The platform seamlessly integrates with key application partners to provide customers with one complete digital software solution.
Designed with smaller organizations in mind, Lumary built CM Lite is an entry-level tech solution that supports new entrants to the marketplace as they begin their digital journey. CM Lite helps disability service providers automate admin and regulatory tasks while supporting growth and scalability. As they expand their offering and customer base, providers can easily upgrade to the complete Lumary CM platform.
The Lumary PM application allows plan managers (PMs) in the healthcare industry to benefit from a cloud-based, real-time solution that covers everything from initial contact to managing multiple plans. By alleviating the burden of admin, PM’s can spend more time growing their business and services.
The healthcare sector is increasingly complicated. The Lumary CM platform, along with its integrated partner applications and Lumary’s CM Lite and PM products, facilitate efficient business processes and data management while supporting collaborative, and value-based care.
Overcoming Obstacles to Achieve Success
The Lumary values are a true reflection of Joseph’s personal principles which include collaboration and respect, continual learning, personal accountability, and a positive attitude. According to Joseph, a positive workplace and supportive colleagues help to create an uplifting place to work and motivates people to do better, both as individuals and as part of the team. The vision of the company is to make a meaningful impact in the industry, enabling and supporting health and well-being organizations to provide better care through technology.
“The biggest challenge when we started was having the vision and understanding of what the healthcare sector needed but not the support base to make this vision a reality. It wasn’t easy to find the right partners willing to take on the risks as well as put in the effort and commitment needed to make Lumary a success,” says Joseph. He adds, “It was important to me to build a company with good and genuine intentions at its core and I knew the idea behind Lumary was a solid business opportunity model.” By creating innovative technology solutions and empowering healthcare organizations to provide quality care, Lumary has played an important part in enriching people’s lives.
“As a business leader, I want to see a sensible application of AI in our world as there is a great benefit and need for it but it does need to be incorporated in a highly disciplined and ethical manner,” says Joseph. He further adds, “Ultimately, I would like to be able to help and support my family and friends as much as I can, and at the same time make a positive contribution through this enterprise.”