During the current COVID-19 public health emergency, the ability to monitor patients remotely is more important than ever. Orthopedic surgeons can safely monitor their patients pre- and post-operatively from home using MedHab LLC’s new wearable technology, the StepRite and MyNotifi with pulse oximetry.
Patient Remote Monitoring Easier With Wearable Technology
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Secondary#covid19#patientremotemonitoring#pulseoximetry#wearabletechnology
StepRite measures gait, range of motion and force distribution for patients requiring physical therapy. Orthopedists, cardiologists and neurologists, as well as physical therapists, can use the device to ensure patients are correctly performing rehabilitation exercises and make clinical decisions regarding their care.
A Class II medical device, StepRite directly streams data to the provider from wherever the patient is doing their physical therapy. All data is HIPAA secure.
MyNotifi measures upper and lower extremity range of motion and can detect if the patient falls. A Class I medical device that is also HIPPA secured, it works with two platforms, one for physical therapy and a OTAGO exercise platform that has been proved to reduce falls by 35%.
MedHab has added pulse oximetry which measures a patient’s oxygen saturation to both devices. John Early, M.D., medical director of MedHab, explained, “Given the current pandemic, it is important to measure oxygen saturation, as decreased oxygen is an early symptom of pulmonary dysfunction as seen with COVID-19. StepRite and MyNotifi also offers solutions to providers regarding Medicare’s recent ruling allowing for continual care of patients via remote technology using newly created CPT codes.”
Combined with telehealth visits, the remote patient monitoring capability of these devices can help reduce hospital admissions, Dr. Early said. “Global evidence shows that when remote patient monitoring is used by doctors and physical therapists, patient outcomes are often better than traditional physical therapy.”
The devices can also be used by orthopedic surgeons and physical therapist in clinics and face to face appointments.
MedHab, LLC is based in Fort Worth, Texas. For more information about StepRite and MyNotifi, visit www.medhab.com or call the help line at 800-541-1420.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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