Fresh from news that its telemedicine-enabled physical therapy support tool, Vera, became the latest digital health device to get FDA clearance, Reflexion Health CEO and Co-Founder Spencer Hutchins sounded pumped. He said the goal of its device is to transform physical therapy at home from a black box to quantifiable data that can be tracked and shared has broad applications.
Its main focus has always been on hip and knee replacements, particularly the bundled payment system in which several facilities and individuals need to track and demonstrate improved outcomes to ensure they are fully paid. It seems like a prescient strategy given the CMS proposal over the summer. The bundled payment program covers 90 days after surgery.
“That put jet fuel on our value proposition,” Hutchins said. “There are 1 million hips and knees replaced each year. We want to transform the way rehabilitation medicine is practiced. It involves a data driven approach that treats patients like core members of their care.”
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It has also shown that seniors can successfully learn and interact with a digital health platform. The median age of users having hip and knee replacement surgery is 66-67. Patients are prepared for the rehab process even before they have surgery. They are familiarized with the technology and watch educational videos. For patients lacking WiFi, it’s installed in their homes. Those lacking computers are provided with one.
“We need to bring connectivity to get data to flow. We have a wide cohort of patients that are not tech savvy, but we found that being thoughtful about training,” and how it implemented the interactive, motion-led program made a big difference in engagement.
Hutchins contended that the paper handouts patients tend to receive as guidence for their physical therapy, including diagrams using stick figures, confused many patients and has been unproductive. He said that its approach helped better convey to patients what they needed to do to improve their recovery and helps them understand why. He added that it helped build patients’ confidence in and helped them feel that they were doing something that was making them better.
Hutchins said in the past year it has worked to convert pilot program users into customers. They include integrated systems as well as facilities that represent each step of rehabilitation care transitions from skilled nursing facilities to senior homes to assisted living facilities and rehabilitation centers.
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Although it is working to increase automation, physicians tend to enter the most high value data transmitted from patients’ homes manually into EHRs. Most of the data remains in their notes.
Although he acknowledged that there’s a lot of activity in the remote monitoring space, its strategy to get FDA clearance has set itself apart from much of its competition, but it sees its main competitor as inertia.
“We’re of the belief that to fundamentally change medicine, you have to bring more consumer focus into practices, but you can’t just ignore the delivery systems in place.”
In addition to hip and knee replacement surgery rehab, it has also worked with partners on cardiac rehab, fractures, and chronic pain.
