Lutanen Health's Holistic Approach to Concierge Medicine

Jay Luthar, MD, recalls the moment he decided to go into medicine. He was 15, on a flight with his family to New Mexico for a vacation, when a passenger collapsed. A flight attendant asked if a doctor was on board. There was. Dr. Luthar’s mother, Anshu Luthar, a family physician, sprang into action.

The man was cold, sweaty, and unresponsive, and the plane’s medical kit had only a few rudimentary diagnostic tools. Dr. Luthar had to think fast and rely on her gut. Was it a heart attack, pulmonary embolism, or something else? With the worried crew and passengers looking on, she used a glucometer to determine the fainter had dangerously low blood glucose, and gave him an intramuscular injection of dextrose, which kept him awake until they could land and get him to the hospital.

“She saved his life,” says Dr. Luthar. “I was so proud of her. I thought, ‘I want to do this, too. I want to be able to help people in this way.’”

Like his mother, Dr. Luthar was interested in primary care, a track in high demand, but one that fewer doctors are pursuing these days. Between 2012 and 2020, medical schools reported that only one in five residents entered primary care, as opposed to one in three in prior years. They’re also leaving the job. In 2021, 117,000 primary care doctors left the specialty.

Burnout is a huge factor. According to physician surveys conducted between 2018 and now, the average primary care doctor is responsible for 2,000 to 3,000 patients and sees between 20 and 30 patients a day. Fewer doctors, a large patient panel, and an aging population mean that people are ill, often seriously so, before they receive care.

After his residency, Dr. Luthar worked as a primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and provided one-hour patient consults at the Benson-Henry Institute of Mind Body Medicine. Like many of his peers, he felt the patient load was just too large to provide the level of care that met his personal standard.

“I had a one-time, one-hour visit with the patient,” says Dr. Luthar. “My primary care was supposed to be longitudinal, but because there were so many patients, it was difficult to get in to see me. There were months-long wait lists.”

A Different Kind of Care

Many doctors and patients are flocking to private concierge practices, in which doctors see fewer patients, but charge those patients an extra fee. Over the last five years, concierge practices grew by 83%, according to Harvard Medical School.

Like many of his peers, Dr. Luthar moved to concierge medicine, working for a local practice for a few years. The patient load improved, but the focus wasn’t on preventive care. “You got an appointment faster, and that visit might last longer, but it was the same reactive model—patients go to the doctor after they’re already sick,” he says.

Dr. Luthar wanted the opportunity to apply the latest advances in medicine to prevent health problems before they happened. “We’re uncovering a lot of the fundamentals of the biology of aging and seeing how that intersects with chronic disease. It’s becoming clear that there are powerful, almost drug-like effects on the body when we do consistent things like exercising or eating well.”

In 2024, Dr. founded his own concierge practice dedicated to treating the whole patient, based on his training in integrative medicine and academic longevity science. Together, he and his wife, Sara Rantanen, created the concept of Lutanen Health. “Lutanen” is a symbolic mingling of their last names.

Launching Lutanen Health

Their team is a small but impressive group of professionals with complementary skills. Ratanen, who worked for a tech startup, is head of operations. Dr. Julia Loewenthal is an internist and geriatrician who teaches at Harvard Medical School. Rachel Grosklags, a registered nurse with a background and interest in functional health and nutrition, is experienced in mindful movement and meditation. Director of Business Development Charlene Tierney, a veteran of the luxury health and wellness space, most recently worked at the exclusive Canyon Ranch spa. Kaylee LeCavalier is a doctor of physical therapy and leads the Human Performance Laboratory. Lutanen has plans to expand its staff in 2026.

In March, Dr. Luthar and his team opened a 3,000 square-foot space at 607 Boylston St. in Back Bay. The office contains a medical wing, which has a handful of exam rooms for minor procedures, and a fitness wing, which has spaces for physical therapy, recovery, and yoga.

Patient wellness and comfort are the reason for everything at Lutanen Health, including interior design. Their lobby has natural light, plush swivel chairs, warm wood tones, and a display of jazz album covers. An almost undetectable nature soundtrack helps lower blood pressure, as does the presence of Moona, the team’s hypoallergenic labradoodle, who greets patients with warm eyes and a soft, gentle paw.

Dr. Luthar points out that concierge medicine isn’t just for people who are elderly or ill. Nor is it exclusively for the wealthy. Lutanen’s annual membership fee begins at $15,000 a year, in the mid-range of Back Bay pricing. There’s a fitness-only membership option for those who aren’t interested in the medical side.

‘It’s for anybody who wants more of a partnership with their physician; a physician who can help them get ahead of chronic diseases through proactive and preventative care.”

Dr. Luthar’s practice is built around a holistic approach to medicine that factors in every aspect of a person’s being. “We take a very deep dive into who this person is from childhood, not just medically,” he says. “We ask what’s important to them as a human being. What’s the purpose of being healthy? Is it to be able to lift their grandkids when they’re older, to have those extra quality years? Then, within that framework, we can take time to understand their risk factors.”

Armed with an intimate knowledge of the patient’s personal and family medical histories, their goals, and their lifestyle, plus the trust built through quality dialogue between doctor and patient, Dr. Luthar and his colleagues can effectively guide patients toward making smart choices that will keep them healthier, longer.

A Long, Healthy Life

“People are living longer these days, but living longer doesn’t necessarily mean living well,” says Dr. Luthar. “Oftentimes, you have another decade of life thanks to medications, but you’re very debilitated, suffering, and frail. And frailty is in many ways preventable. We can’t always stop diseases from happening, but we can certainly mitigate a lot of the negative impacts.”

A good diet is essential for health, and in videos on his website, Dr. Luthar extols the virtues of clean eating, but he says other factors are just as important. Minimizing stress, sleeping well, staying physically active, and pursuing in-person (not just online) social connections are all critical to staying well.

Loneliness, says Dr. Luthar, is a serious problem, especially for older adults. He describes an isolated older patient who was experiencing depression.“Most doctors treat depression with pills, and that can help,” he says. “But I started thinking, what’s her social situation? Could we help plug her into a community organization? Those aren’t the things your typical doctor is going to be thinking about, but it’s all in the context of who this person is,” he says.

“I think of what we do at Lutanen Health as similar to how a private wealth manager helps people with their finances. If you invest some time and energy into good habits, these effects compound over time. Then, when you’re older, you have a buffer, a lot of physiological reserve to draw upon to weather chronic disease, acute illnesses, and functional decline. We’re partnering with people and working with them to help achieve their goals, but in the context of cutting-edge science and medicine and their health.”

The team members freely express their joy to be working in a place where making people healthy and happy is the priority. That’s why they wanted to work in healthcare and wellness in the first place, they explain.

Dr. Luthar echoes their sentiment: “If we clinicians are less rushed, that allows us to create this container, this safe healing space for the patients to be seen and heard. If we’re in balance, that helps us keep our patients in balance, too.”