Abstract
This chapter will introduce the clinician to the quickly expanding field of musculoskeletal-focused digital apps (MDA), with an eye towards helping the clinician select and recommend MDAs for optimal patient care. MDAs are increasingly being used for physical therapy and rehabilitation, telehealth, pain management, behavioral health, and remote patient monitoring. The COVID-19 pandemic has vastly accelerated the adoption of telehealth and digital health apps by patients and clinicians, and the digital health field will only continue to expand as developers increasingly harness artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities, coupled with precision medicine capabilities that integrate personal health data tracking and genomics insights. Here we begin with an overview of several types of MDA, before discussing the epidemiology of musculoskeletal conditions and injuries, clinical considerations in selecting a digital health solution, payor reimbursement for digital apps, and regulatory oversight of digital health apps.
Highlights
Digital health is a rapidly growing field
The number of mobile medical apps for musculoskeletal conditions and injury management is increasing exponentially as organizational health and wellness initiatives increasingly focus on pain management and holistic care
The musculoskeletal-focused digital apps (MDA) focus on individual health and progress, while addressing how to prevent organizational ergonomic issues and manage musculoskeletal injury recovery
Summary
Digital health is a rapidly growing field. As of early 2019, there were over 318,000 mobile health applications in different app stores--and that number itself doubled since 2015 as consumers increasingly used mobile apps to manage their health [1]. An American Medical Association survey found that physicians’ use of technology to provide televisits or virtual visits doubled from 2016 to February 2020, with nearly 30% of doctors adopting digital health technology [5]. Physical therapist and physiotherapist adoption of musculoskeletal-focused digital apps (MDA) has likewise expanded exponentially [6]. Consumer adoption of telehealth increased from 11% of care visits in 2019 to 46% in May 2020, as providers scaled the offerings and are seeing 50 to 175 times the number of patients via telehealth compared to before. The number of mobile medical apps for musculoskeletal conditions and injury management is increasing exponentially as organizational health and wellness initiatives increasingly focus on pain management and holistic care. The MDAs focus on individual health and progress, while addressing how to prevent organizational ergonomic issues and manage musculoskeletal injury recovery
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