A musculoskeletal digital health platform that activates the patient, coordinates their multi-specialty care, lowers risks, and improves health outcomes

CEO
Manish Shah
Founded
2015

Problem Tech Solves

Musculoskeletal issues are complex and can be impacted by many biopsychosocial factors. Traditional care is fragmented and SDoH can make it hard for patients to get the care they need. Traditionally a patient with MSK pain is given a prescription for pain meds and PT for 2x a week for 4-10 weeks. Their adherence to practice between visits is low. More than half of patients do not solve their issues with this PT regimen. Next, they may undergo imaging, injections, and are sent to a surgeon. The surgeon gives them info on improving overall health and leaves them to coordinate this before surgery. Things like weight loss, smoking cessation, etc. are typically left to the patient to coordinate, and can feel overwhelming. After surgery, it is back to in-person PT; running around, co-pays, and coordination which is hard for a patient (especially with limited mobility) to manage. PeerWell offers a different path with interdisciplinary care delivered via an app, and innovative provider tools enabling coordination and replacing the need for in-person assessment in many cases. A PeerWell PT helping a patient with MSK pain gets insights and help with treating the depression and comorbid factors that would otherwise make their treatment less effective. They use the daily ROM to chart progress. The patient gets daily reminders from the app, improving compliance and making the conservative approach to MSK more effective. The patient gets all the help they need from the palm of their hand, without ever having to leave home.

Tech Brief

PeerWell is a three-part solution. First, our patient-centered app combines daily activities from our 5 pillars of health (health-literacy, environment, physical therapy, mindfulness, and nutrition) with cutting-edge patented smart-phone enabled technology including Range of Motion (ROM) measurement, AR home environment assessment, mobility tracking integration, and other clinical assessments (like VAS pain, DAS21, etc). Content is written at a 6th-grade reading level or is video-based, and the UI/UX makes the process approachable and accessible. We average 70% engagement with our daily program. Next, we use ML to compare patients to similar peers to assess risk and modify content and serve up the results to their care team in our dashboard and through integrations. Our ROM has proven to be as accurate as industry-standard shoulder, knee, and hip measurements tools, previously only available in person. These patient-centered data points are updated daily as the patient interacts with the app, providing timely, accurate, and actionable data to the interdisciplinary team including information that would not otherwise be captured like PSSI risk indicators, QOL, and functional measures, and regular mental health screening. Lastly, our 100% virtual practice provides video visits with Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Behavioral Health specialists, Registered Dieticians, and Nurse Case Managers based on the needs of the patient. Our experienced and diverse licensed providers throughout California, reflect the communities we serve. Our methodology limits out-of-pocket expenses and travel time, which is helpful for vulnerable members of our community, without compromising the quality of care. All they need is internet access. https://vimeo.com/549385242/ca05539503

Tech Differentiators

Other MSK apps use technology that measures 2-D angles, which does not replace in-person measurement by a PT. Or expensive sensor hardware, which is hard to use, and requires coordination of DME and patient training. Our patented ROM tools can factor 3-D movement, velocity, with advanced 3-d modeling using just a smartphone as effectively as in-person assessment. Other MSK apps also focus only on the physical side of MSK with a heavy emphasis on PT and some health literacy. PeerWell addresses the entire biopsychosocial landscape for our patients, including licensed providers and FFS insurance coverage for physical, ancillary, and behavioral health. Since we take a whole-person approach our clinical assessments are more robust with more than 20 tools (e.g. KOOSJR, RAPT, etc.) built into the patient experience. We also cover the full spectrum of care, not just surgery avoidance. For some, surgery is necessary. We have a robust Prehab/Rehab program that focuses on reducing surgical risks and improving recovery times before and after surgery. Our outcomes are proven. Sword, Hinge, and others claim a 2-3x ROI for their employer clients based on sentiment questions like 'Do you believe you will need surgery in the next year?'. Our WC employers enjoy a 10x ROI in reduced medical spending and shorter return to work times (~$3300+ per claim average savings) vs. similar injured workers who did not use PeerWell. Our clinical and financial outcomes for those using just our technology (not our providers) are also better than traditional healthcare https://peerwell-main.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/downloadables/PeerWell-CORE-Whitepaper.pdf

Validation

Find clinical study results here https://peerwell.co/outcomes/research/ Case study- testimonial https://peerwell.co/blog/full-time-nurse-gets-back-to-work-in-4-weeks-after-total-knee-replacement/ Workers Comp Prehab survey N568 injured workers 2 weeks after completing prehab 96 respondents (17%) *100% ‘said Right before your surgery date, you had a good understanding of what you needed to do and what to expect related to managing your health? *85.3% ‘ During PreHab, the PeerWell pain management activities helped me manage my pain.’ *97% ‘You would recommend PeerWell PreHab to your friends?’ *98% ‘I find the information and activities easy to understand'

Why Us

Disciplines line PT didn't have accurate measures before now, limiting virtual applications. PeerWell's asynchronous daily content supports patients across their biopsychosocial needs, while licenced interdisciplinary specialists are a video call away. Unique measures allow high-quality interactions across the care team and allow for the best data-informed real-time care.

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