Delivering Effective, Remote Rehab PLUS Tracking During COVID-19

When COVID-19 hit, the team at Lewisville, Texas-based DJO, LLC, was amazed to find out that patient adoption of their new Motion iQ rehab program leaped from 75% to nearly 100%.

Dr. James Reeves, of Town Center Orthopaedic Associates in Reston, Virginia, was part of the pilot program for Motion iQ and he described what happened when COVID-19 hit. “During the early planning for Motion iQ, we estimated that about 60% of patients would be comfortable using technology as part of their episode of care, and we were very pleased when patient enrollment for the pilot was about 75%. However, in May-June, our patient enrollment has been almost 100% because many patients are uncomfortable about COVID exposure from home health and physical therapy.”

Furthermore, said Dr. Reeves, “Two things really stood out. First, nearly all of the pilot users indicated that during their first post-op visits, Motion iQ patients were reporting less pain and better range of motion than expected. We’re not sure if it’s because the patient has more control of their recovery, but it’s definitely an area in which we plan to pursue clinical studies.”

Motion iQ, the brainchild of DJO, is a novel software application meant to vastly enhance the surgical experience by connecting the surgeon, care team and patient throughout the continuum of care.

After downloading the app, patients can send text and video messages—as well as images—to the care team. The app allows patients access to personalized information, physical therapy exercises, and other resources.

Importantly, with Motion iQ, care providers can remotely track and monitor patient progress, and it gives patients and surgeons the chance to communicate via direct messaging, one of the benefits being that it helps promote compliance. Individuals who are not meeting recovery milestones are flagged for followup.

Said Dr. Reeves, “As a surgeon, my top priorities are providing effective, empathetic patient care while achieving excellent surgical outcomes. Motion iQ allows me to fundamentally transform the way I engage with and empower my patients before and after surgery to optimize outcomes and patient satisfaction.”

Dr. Reeves, who was also part of the development team, has more than 200 patients actively using Motion iQ, and patient feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. “Patients absolutely love the more personalized care I can provide with Motion iQ,” added Reeves.

“We are committed to providing patients and surgeons with the meaningful tools to enhance the surgical experience,” company CEO Brady Shirley commented to OTW. “The Motion iQ platform transforms the surgeon, practice, and patient experience through an industry-leading digital health solution, and we are proud to launch the first-ever platform that can provide real-time data and tracking to both the patient and care team.”

“We created Motion iQ as a tool to help hold the patient’s hand through the surgical episode of care, but all of our pilot surgeons expressed a strong need to extend Motion iQ to non-operative patients as well because those patients also need real hand-holding though conservative care as well.”

DJO plans to expand the Motion iQ platform to connected bracing solutions in 2021.