The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) has teamed up with a virtual rehabilitation therapy company to test how its digital rehabilitation platform delivered physical therapy following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery.
The randomized controlled clinical trial, "Virtual Exercise Rehabilitation In-home Therapy: A Research Study (VERITAS),” was designed to evaluate the cost and clinical non-inferiority of using a virtual rehabilitation platform from Reflexion Health to deliver physical therapy following total knee replacement surgery.
In the study, VERA, Reflexion Health's virtual exercise rehabilitation assistant, with clinician oversight enabled a substantial reduction in post-acute costs and rehospitalizations while being as effective as traditional physical therapy, according to officials who touted the results this week.
Per the company’s website, VERA is a tele-rehabilitation platform that coaches patients through their prescribed physical therapy exercises, measures progress, and reports outcomes back to their physical therapist. VERA aims to guide and encourage patients to do their best on the path to recovery—all from their own home.
VERITAS was a multi-center, randomized controlled trial that enrolled 306 adult participants scheduled for TKR surgery at four U.S. sites. Of the consented participants, 287 completed the trial. The treatment group concluded with 143 adults who received Reflexion Health's VERA both pre- and post-surgery, compared with a control group of 144 adults who received traditional in-home or clinic-based physical therapy at participating sites. Clinical outcomes, health service use, and costs were examined for three months after surgery.
The study results demonstrated an average cost savings of $2,745 per patient for those who received virtual physical therapy using VERA technology with clinical oversight when compared to usual care with traditional physical therapy. Virtual physical therapy met its secondary effectiveness endpoints of non-inferiority for reducing disability and improving knee function. Compared with usual care, safety endpoints for patients with virtual physical therapy were similar, the results revealed.
"Physical therapy is a critical component of recovery for patients following total joint replacement surgery. As people live longer and these surgeries become more common, it is important to identify solutions that maintain or improve outcomes while decreasing the burden on patients and providers," Janet Prvu Bettger, Ph.D., associate professor with the Duke Department of Orthopedic Surgery and principal investigator of the study, said in a statement. "We are pleased with the results of the study which show that Reflexion Health's VERA coupled with remote clinician oversight, is a cost-effective paradigm for physical therapy—one that is more convenient for patients while providing clinicians greater insight into the recovery process."
