Kinomatic Brings March 2 A Million Post-Surgical Opioid Reduction Effort to National Stage as Nonprofit

• March 2 A Million is aimed at reducing opioid dependency in orthopedic surgery, with the mission of reaching 1 million surgeries with low or no opioids
  

• Patients following the protocol needed 10 or fewer opioid pills following surgery, compared to the national average of 110 opioid pills after total knee replacement
  

• Patients were also able to reach hip and knee mobility milestones within two weeks that standard recovery can take months to reach
  

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif., Sept. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kinomatic, a pioneer in AI- and VR-driven orthopedic surgery planning and concierge recovery, today announced the partnership with March 2 A Million, a national nonprofit founded by Dr. Andrew Wickline to reduce opioid dependency in orthopedic surgery through education, surgeon enrollment, and advocacy.

For decades, opioids have been the default answer to pain after joint replacement surgery. Each year, more than 50 million surgical procedures are performed in the US, and the vast majority of patients are sent home with a prescription for opioids to manage recovery. For total knee replacement, patients are commonly prescribed around 110 opioid pills. As many as 1 in 11 of these patients (over 140,000 Americans annually) go on to develop an opioid dependence as a result.

March 2 A Million was created to make opioid-sparing recovery the new standard in orthopedic surgery. The nonprofit was founded on more than 10 years of research by Dr. Andrew Wickline (based on his book Less Swelling Less Pain™) and built on the clinical understanding that reducing swelling can reduce pain and, in turn, the need for opioids. The protocol is made up of more than 40 individual, evidence-backed decisions, including pre-operative patient education, surgical technique, compression and cold therapy, targeted nutrition, and structured recovery support.

Outcomes from this published research show that 98% of total hip and 89% of total knee patients never need to be prescribed opioids. That’s a sharp contrast to the national average for patients who face up to a 16.7% chance of developing opioid dependency when prescribed the typical 80 to 160+ tablets.

The benefits of this approach extend beyond opioid reduction, allowing patients to reach hip and knee flexion mobility milestones within two weeks that standard recovery can take months to reach, if at all.

"For too long, recovery has been the forgotten phase of joint replacement. Patients are left to navigate the hardest part of the procedure largely on their own, often with a bottle of opioids as one of their only tools," said Dr. Andrew Wickline, MD, FAAOS, Chief Medical Officer at Kinomatic. "March 2 A Million isn't about reinventing how a surgeon practices. It's about giving them a published, proven set of tools they can layer into their existing approach, leading to a safer, smarter path to recovery for patients."

March 2 A Million has grown into a peer network of more than 70 enrolled surgeons, reaching more than 3,400 patients to date. The nonprofit's mission is to scale that impact to one million patients nationwide. And because the model isn’t dependent on specific techniques, technologies, or facility capabilities, it can work in any practice or hospital system.

"The decision for Kinomatic to operationalize the March 2 A Million program to a national audience is about continuing to change the way we think about recovery from orthopedic surgery," said Shaun Lea, CEO of Kinomatic. "Dr. Wickline’s protocol gives surgeons a way to better control pain while reducing reliance on opioids. We've already seen an impact in patient outcomes through our industry-leading Net Promoter Score and the ability of our concierge model to reduce complexity for practices while elevating the patient experience and the provider reputation."

Kinomatic has taken the lead on adopting the protocol outlined by Dr. Wickline with its RESTORE pilot, conducted in partnership with WHOOP, with the goal of demonstrating that a high-touch, data-informed recovery model can improve outcomes, accelerate healing, and reduce reliance on opioids.

As part of scaling the effort, March 2 A Million will also introduce a new website enabling surgeons nationwide to learn about the opioid-sparing approach and enroll. It will also feature a surgeon locator for patients who want a low/no opioid recovery experience. The nonprofit has filed its 501(c)(3) designation and continues to expand its surgeon network in pursuit of its goal of impacting one million patients.

About Kinomatic
Kinomatic is an AI- and VR-driven orthopedic surgery planning and aftercare company dedicated to optimizing outcomes for knee and hip joint replacement patients. As the only end-to-end pre- and post-surgical partner purpose-built around the recovery phase, Kinomatic combines service-enabled technology with a concierge patient experience that wraps around the surgeon's workflow, and is building the AI-native platform that will power the future of surgical planning. For more information, visit www.kinomatic.com.

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