Time for Your All-New Tech Tuesday Tune Up

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Welcome Back to the Fine Tuned Tech Tuesdays

PPDNation, to kick off 2023, we have brought back our innovation and technology newsletter with a new twist. Over the next year, we are striving to tap on the shoulders of true titans in our field and beyond. The purpose of Tech Tuesdays is to get a better understanding of healthcare innovation & trends and how it relates to Physical Therapy.

Our First Tech Titan to offer her thoughts is a Digital Nomad who has co-founded several tech start-ups, the most notable being Embodia. When Clinics were forced to close their physical doors during the pandemic, this tech titan single handly laid the foundation to zoom-health consultations while linking it to Embodia's patient-focused HEP. Her efforts to create a digital professional development marketplace have helped spread not only the work of the special interests divisions of the CPA but the clinical thought leaders of our profession. Please help me welcome a true PT advocate & Tech Titan - Maggie Bergeron.

I am truly excited and grateful to have Maggie share her expertise in Digital Therapeutics and Physiotherapy

@Physiokarim

Digital Therapeutics and Physiotherapy

Digital health applications and solutions are increasingly becoming part of our healthcare experience. Partially because they offer fast and convenient solutions for problems arising from capacity shortages in the traditional medical system or because they enhance the capabilities of healthcare professionals.

One emerging area that physiotherapists should be aware of is digital therapeutics.

What are digital therapeutics?

Digital Therapeutics or DTx are considered a “new category of medicine”. DTx “deliver medical interventions directly to patients using evidence-based, clinically evaluated software to treat, manage, and prevent a broad spectrum of diseases and disorders.” (The Digital Therapeutics Alliance)

DTx are software-based and they can be prescribed independently or with other treatments in order to optimise patient outcomes.

DTx and Physiotherapy

While the DTx currently on the market is used mostly to replace the role of a physiotherapist, other digital software (like Embodia) is used as an extension of working with a physiotherapist.

Some digital therapeutic companies may have physiotherapists (or other rehab pros) on their team and available for one-on-one virtual consultations; however, the care is primarily driven by technology.

Examples of DTx in the PT space:

Kaia Health: digital platform offers treatments for MSK disorders such as back pain and osteoarthritis, as well as COPD.
SwordHealth: offers digital, physical therapies for acute and chronic pain, as well as preventative care.
Fern Health: a virtual pain management platform available to people in the US through their employers.

Other examples of DTx in chronic pain: RelieVRx & HelloBetter which both use principles of CBT.

Well, now you have me worried about my future. Will I have a job in 10 years?

The idea of all this digital healthcare might seem daunting to those who find face-to-face contact with a healthcare professional reliable and reassuring. Rest assured – no matter how clever the tech gets, there will still be clinicians making or at least reviewing plans for patients, though they may be doing it remotely.

Despite all the ways in which the patient experience might change in the future, a human connection with a trustworthy healthcare professional will remain key.

We didn’t discuss the evidence for DTx in this post - but it does exist. I’m happy to summarize it in a future post. Cheers Maggie (@maggiebPT)