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The term “Empowered MSK Care” can mean different things to different people. At RecoveryOne, we are on a mission to transform MSK care, and empowerment is at the root of our efforts. So many people currently suffer from MSK injuries or conditions. The road to recovery can be long and arduous, and it can become further complicated if MSK patients never finish their prescribed physical therapy sessions.

There are a host of reasons why patients don’t complete their therapy. Sometimes it is a matter of convenience—getting to the therapist’s office, taking time away from work or family, and scheduling conflicts can make it difficult to get much needed help. Once patients start to feel good, they may drop PT sessions and try to continue exercises on their own. Or they may not understand where they are and what to expect on their recovery journey. The uncertainty may lead them to drop sessions and not follow up on important care.

Regardless of the reasons, a patient’s commitment to MSK care over time is often extremely tenuous. That’s why RecoveryOne has zeroed in on an Empowered MSK Care Model^TM that is customized to specific patient needs. While the custom nature of our approach is important, our commitment to removing barriers to care is just as critical. That’s why we bring care to the patient instead of making patients travel to their provider.

Our human-connected care is delivered through a zero-footprint technology platform. This means patients can complete their exercises wherever they are, according to their schedule and preferences. They can participate in our zero-friction programs that dynamically advance as their mobility improves.  No extra devices are needed, so no assembly is required.

Coaches monitor their progress, proactively addressing pain issues or progress concerns. We know that patients who aren’t engaged don’t keep up with therapeutic regimens. The RecoveryOne Empowered MSK Care Model includes continuous coach/patient collaboration on the individualized care plan.

We’ve designed the program to remove barriers to continued patient care. We’ve flipped the script to bring MSK care to patients wherever they are. We focus on empowering the patient throughout their MSK care journey with tailored information, accessible expert support, and flexible programs that encourage continued participation and leading to improved outcomes.

By empowering patients in MSK care, we are leading the transformation of current care practices and unlocking new opportunities to change the way MSK care is delivered.  As we zero in on patient empowerment, we are committed to:

Zero-Footprint, Zero-Friction, and Zero Tolerance for the Status Quo

With all the froth in digital healthcare, and in virtual musculoskeletal (MSK) care specifically, people often ask me how RecoveryOne is different. Part of my answer: we despise point solutions. Half of all adult Americans suffer from MSK conditions each year, and comorbidity is the norm. With such a high prevalence of joint and muscle issues, healthcare managers are looking to MSK solutions to establish and nurture whole-person consumer relationships. In what other category do you have the opportunity to engage with as much as half your population around real healthcare needs each year? And because mobility is the keystone of managing a wide variety of chronic diseases, stand-alone MSK solutions just don’t work.

For years, employers have had no option but to tolerate point solutions in healthcare. There hasn’t been much choice. Even health plans’ involvement in digital MSK care has been largely limited to distribution of stand-alone solutions — until now, that is. Frustration with the maze of point solutions has set in, and employers are fed up with niche answers to systemic problems. We’ve built our solution as an “Intel Inside” for health plans and other risk-bearing entities who are looking to create an integrated consumer experience.

RecoveryOne’s solution was purpose-built so that those who finance and manage healthcare could integrate our solution into a broader health ecosystem. To us, this is so much more than a slogan. Making it real requires a series of concrete capabilities, including:

• A turnkey consumer marketing and communications platform that can be implemented on a shared member engagement platform.
• The ability to onboard consumers agilely, whether through our own multimodal consumer marketing platform, or via referrals from your provider(s).
• Partnering with you in group sales to and train your sales executives and account managers with the value propositions necessary to drive group uptake.
• Dynamic white-labeling so that the end-to-end experience can be branded as you choose.
• A robust library of APIs to enable a seamless workflow for the consumer.

We have no interest in competing against our target customers (health plans, health systems, and benefits administrators) with point solutions that just make problems worse. Over the next few weeks, we will be releasing exciting news about some of our customers and the results we are generating. The headline: you no longer need to tolerate point solutions. We’re proud to be the MSK-inside-your-solution, generating superior clinical and economic results through an evidence-based recovery journey designed around the consumer.

I just reached my three-year anniversary with RecoveryOne. Thought I’d share some hard-won pointers that I picked up along the way…

1. Win through your team and culture. Helping consumers recover from painful #MSK disorders is hard, and getting people engaged in their own recovery requires tremendous courage and resilience. Thus, having the most talented and dedicated team is key to success in everything else. We must care for those who care for our members, which starts with nurturing a culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging and higher purpose.
   
2. Changing consumer behavior is hard and requires a variety of interventions. For some people, a loving grandparent will do the trick; for others, a drill sergeant is exactly what’s needed. Some of our members are motivated by education, by gamification, or by seeing how their pain has improved in the last couple of weeks  — especially when they’re having an off day. Still others find inspiration in connecting with people who are going through a similar experience. Whatever the means, we know there is no universal solution. That’s why we use highly trained behavior change specialists to understand what each member needs and to motivate members to get and stay engaged.
   
3. The birthplace of engagement is satisfaction. If you want to inspire and motivate people — particularly those facing a stressful, anxiety-producing situation — you have to create an environment that is simple, intuitive, friction-free, and accessible to all. While satisfaction on its own doesn’t generate adherence, you don’t have a shot at true engagement without superior satisfaction.
   
4. Engagement matters a bunch, but recovery matters more. Other companies in our space love to tout their engagement rate. To be fair, we do, too: ours is 82.1 percent.  Let’s pause and think about what that really means, though: 82 out of every 100 people who begin their recovery on our platform complete their recovery. In actuality, then,it’s a completion rate. We shouldn’t get overly enamored by program completion on its own. When your loved one completes a 90-day treatment for a substance use disorder, does that always mean they are fully recovered? Of course not. Getting and staying engaged through the end of a program is a great leading indicator, but completion is not an end itself. That’s why, beginning in late 2019, we started to measure and work to improve our recovery rate: the percentage of members who actually recover fully in terms of pain and/or function, based on objective thresholds established in the medical literature for specific diagnoses and procedures. Our recovery rate is 77.4 percent. Do you know yours?
   
5. Focus on the end-to-end recovery journey, not the visit. So often when I meet new people, they assume that we use the same visit-by-visit model as conventional, in-person physical therapy (PT). Because many PT clinics are paid to be “visit factories” (i.e., they focus on visits as the keystone of MSK recovery), the assumption is understandable. Digitizing a PT visit may be helpful, but optimizing the cost and quality of the journey from “ouch” to “all better” with an evidence-based, customized solution is where the real opportunity lies. Sometimes, that journey warrants virtual care; other times, it warrants in-person care. Sometimes, a surgeon is required; other times, a PT is needed. More often, optimal recovery demands a particular mix.  The bottom line is that you don’t want to be a modality looking for a problem. Rather, you want to solve each disorder using a precise blend of treatment options in a continuously personalized way.

While the strategies I’ve learned throughout these past three years have been game changers, I know there is still much to be explored in the world of MSK recovery. I can’t wait to see what the next three years have in store.

This article originally appeared in Managed Healthcare Executive. To read the entire article, please go to the original article page.

All across the country, and in fact globally, musculoskeletal (MSK) care has become difficult if not impossible for most patients to access because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These injuries may be piling up on couches and porches across America as many go without help. Many hospital-based physical therapy (PT) centers and private PT practices have paused providing in-person assessments and care to avoid close personal contact that increases the risk of spreading the virus.

Although access to MSK care has contracted, the urgent need for these services has not. MSK disorders affect half of all American adults, with more than 126 million Americans over the age of 18 reporting being diagnosed with one of these conditions. These disorders have a significant impact on the health and quality of life of those affected, with approximately 18 million reporting an MSK disorder prevents them from performing daily activities, including walking unaided, bathing, and using the bathroom.

Beyond the pain and limitations experienced by individuals, MSK disorders also exact a high economic cost, affecting employers in every industry as well as insurers:
• MSK disorders account for $213 billion in direct and indirect costs, according to a CDC survey. 
• Back and neck pain alone are responsible for 290.8 million lost workdays, according to one study.
• Employers spend $20 billion a year on MSK disorders, accounting for 17% of their total healthcare budgets.
• Direct medical expenses cost payers a total of $130 billion.

These numbers are projected to continue to grow substantially as the number of older Americans increases.

Read more of the original article on Managed Healthcare Executive.