Introducing Pathways: MedBridge’s New Digital MSK Innovation
The day is finally here! Pathways, MedBridge’s latest innovation in digital MSK care is now generally available for all customers.
Over the last several months, we’ve been hard at work beta testing this solution with two large hospital systems. We’ve learned a lot, and we’re excited to finally release Pathways to the world.
What We’ve Learned
- Pathways is applicable to most patients who walk through the door. We’ve built several different clinical programs within Pathways, including low back pain, neck pain, elbow pain, hip osteoarthritis, knee osteoarthritis, and many more. The clinicians we’ve worked with have told us that it is rare to see a patient who doesn’t need Pathways! This was slightly surprising, since we went in with the hypothesis that patients would need to be evaluated, triaged, and then selected for Pathways, if suitable. The reality is that most patients can benefit from Pathways, and we saw this in our data as well.
- Our second big learning was that most low acuity patients are never getting to therapy. We know the data tells us that in some systems, as few as 4 percent of patients actually receive conservative care. This is a huge opportunity for an application like Pathways, which enables most patients to receive conservative care through an at-home education and exercise program versus the current reality of only a minority of patients receiving conservative care. This simple change leads to healthier patients, more engaged patients, and lower overall cost of care.
- Finally, it was very obvious to us that providers are excited about this solution! Clinicians have been asking us to support them on their journey of digital patient care, and what we learned through our months of beta testing is that this solution delivers on exactly that. We heard story after story about how patients were finding the exercises enjoyable to do, the programs simple to progress through, and the educational content incredibly engaging. We’ve also heard from primary care groups who are eager for an easier and faster way to get patients the therapy care they need.
Why Did We Build Pathways?
We built Pathways because half of all Americans have an MSK issue, and many of them will never get to see a therapist or a provider in person. This is due to a variety of reasons. For instance, many clinics and health systems are struggling with capacity and access, leading to long wait times and a need to prioritize patients with more severe issues.
We saw an opportunity to get more patients started with conservative care right away and provide clinicians with a solution that not only engages patients but also helps them get healthier, all while reducing care costs along the way!
We’re excited about supporting providers in their quest to better serve their patients. We believe that Pathways is the premier platform for MSK hybrid care, and we have the statistics to back it up.
Here are some amazing statistics from our beta program:
- We’re seeing over 75 percent patient engagement within the platform.
- Patients love the product, which is shown by an 80 NPS® score.
- Patients are improving as they progress through the application, with pain scores reducing in every single patient who completes their program.
Exploring Pathways’ Features
The features released within the Pathways product have been a hit. The combination of education and exercises is a strong one, especially in the way it’s delivered in a phased program that builds patients up as they recover, as shown by our incredible engagement rates.
The content within the Pathways app is cutting edge and innovative. We introduced a new education content type for users to swipe through in a familiar way (think Instagram Story), and we have seen 100 percent completion rates with this educational content—in other words, patients who start looking through the material finish all the way through! They’re engaged with and excited about our educational content, which we know is an incredibly important part of rehab.
We’ve also seen a lot of excitement with our AI-enabled motion capture exercises within the solution. Patients love interacting with the motion capture to understand their form and how they’re performing exercises. Their scores also motivate them to go back and continue to engage with the solution to improve.
Motion capture computer vision is an extremely important part of our clinical programs because it helps the patient understand where they are and then guides their progress when the time is right. Check out my previous blog for more information about the functionality of AI and motion capture within Pathways. This, along with the ability for Pathways to collect patient-reported outcomes, helps progress the patient through the program while also improving their function and reducing their pain.
Because we have so many Pathways available for patients—not only within MSK and joint pain but also supporting fall prevention, pelvic health, and pre- and post-surgical—we also built a Triage tool to support clinicians in finding the best suitable pathway for their patient.
This tool allows practices to open the digital front door to therapy-first conservative care. This conversational, survey-based triage tool can be deployed flexibly within any setting. It offers recommendations for care, including direct enrollment into the right pathway. It also makes sure to screen for red flags and diverts patients accordingly with complex medical needs.
While our mission when setting out to build Pathways was to build the most engaging patient solution possible, we didn’t forget about our clinicians along the way. Pathways includes robust clinician-facing dashboards, patient insights, and visibility to RTM billable codes—all included right within the platform.
**not an actual patient
What’s Next for MedBridge and Pathways?
So what’s coming next?
We’re excited to continue to roll out new functionality the rest of this year, including Spanish translation across the entire application, a fully integrated Pathways experience within the Epic EHR, and expanded telehealth functionality for easier communication between patient and provider.
MedBridge is thrilled to officially announce the general availability of Pathways. The future of Digital MSK has arrived!
