Advancing Rehab Therapy Business Operations With Digital MSK Care

The days of exclusively providing in-person rehab care, when patients had to spend a lot of time commuting and waiting in a lobby to receive rehab therapy, are long gone. With the rise of digital health, patients are connecting with their providers from virtually anywhere for a more convenient and efficient care experience. The use of health care technology tools such as telehealth, remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM), virtual exercise programs, digital communications, and tracking brings numerous benefits to what is now considered traditional care delivery. These tools enhance patient care, improve engagement and compliance, and elevate the quality and effectiveness of treatment plans designed by clinicians, allowing for a hybrid care environment that can even improve clinic operations.

In rehab therapy, digital musculoskeletal (MSK) care provides additional paths for revenue, such as developing virtual or hybrid care programs, reaching a wider patient population, and opening doors to strategic partnerships with local employers and health plans. Digital MSK-based programs can help improve efficiency and reduce care costs, enabling clinicians to align with value-based care goals and patient-driven payment models (PDPMs). As rehab therapists join the wider health care community in transitioning toward value-based care models, digital MSK tools and services can help clinicians achieve positive outcomes while keeping health care costs low.

Identifying Opportunities for Business Growth

An important part of business operations is the ability to diversify revenue streams. When applied strategically, digital MSK tools and services can play key roles in facilitating the growth of programs. This offers a wide range of digital tools and services that create positive engagement and experiences for patients and clinicians. Whether clinics are looking to establish a new base of consumers, expand their reach within their existing consumer base, grow additional revenue streams, create a point of differentiation within the market, or extend the care and reach of limited staff, digital MSK can serve as a valuable tool in accomplishing operational goals for rehab therapy.

By leveraging digital MSK tools, multiple pathways allow clinics to expand their reach and the population of patients they provide with care. For example, developing strategic partnerships with local businesses and organizations looking to reduce health care costs creates opportunities through digital solutions. By working with local employers to incentivize a PT-first approach to musculoskeletal pain and injury, the clinics and employers’ benefit because they provide a proactive pathway for patient care and help patients avoid worsened or new ailments.

Another route clinics can take is to reach deeper into their local consumer markets. Hybrid care enables this by lowering the friction points for patients to access rehab therapy, which can include cost, commitment, travel time, and other factors. By offering introductory consultations for patients not already utilizing rehab therapy for their musculoskeletal issues, rehab therapists can demonstrate value to new patients. While many of these patients may only require home exercise programs and future telehealth check-ins, some will develop into long-term in-person or hybrid clients who may have sought care elsewhere without the convenience of digital MSK services. Connections like these can create educational, marketing, and word-of-mouth opportunities that may not otherwise arise to increase clientele. Additionally, by offering digital MSK solutions and services like telehealth, patient portals, and apps that demonstrate and track prescribed home exercise programs (HEP), rehab therapy clinics can differentiate themselves from competitors by having stronger engagement and accessibility. Better patient experiences can lead to more positive online reviews, patient testimonials, and other marketing opportunities.

Overcoming Adoption Challenges

As rehab therapy leaders work toward adopting these tools within their clinics, they should expect to encounter different challenges before achieving their full benefits. Beyond the general language and understanding of digital MSK, a primary concern from rehab therapy providers involves a lack of cohesiveness within current rehab therapy operations. For many vendors, the end goal is to create a comprehensive digital MSK tool that enables a wide range of services such as telehealth, RTM, home exercise program (HEP) tracking, patient portals, scheduling, and more. Current technology systems still lack this level of cohesiveness, and developing a thorough digital MSK system will require a clinical operator to work with various vendors. This presents its own challenges with integrating individual practices’ electronic health record (EHR) software but can be overcome by establishing strong multi-vendor relationships. Overall, many of these issues will resolve themselves as software and services evolve to be more compatible.

Staff buy-in to digital efforts is another area that has delayed the adoption of digital MSK tools. As digital MSK programs grow, practices will find that they must commit more personnel and resources toward these endeavors. The key is to approach adoption with an understanding of the greatest pain points that digital tools solve for coordination and delivery. With this mindset, staff can be incentivized to embrace using new digital tools while knowing the benefits they bring to the practice. Additionally, providers can work to identify integration opportunities patients can naturally embrace with technology they are already familiar with, which will not upset the flow of care. Not only does this support the patients in receiving the care they need, but it also displays a strong understanding of a clinic's market and patient population.

Digital MSK-related tools and services can revolutionize operations with hybrid rehab therapy practices, but clinic leadership and staff must align to succeed. It is well known that the rehab therapy landscape will continue to be impacted by digital innovations, but not all transitions toward digital innovations will be seamless. With the right education and implementation of digital MSK tools, rehab therapy clinics can achieve their operational goals and learn to thrive in an evolving market.