Yale New Haven Hospital’s (YNHH) Center for Musculoskeletal Care (CMC) has partnered with digital health startup Reflexion Health Inc. to deliver New England’s first in-home virtual exercise rehabilitation program starting this month.
The rehab program is designed to help YNHH patients recover more easily, quickly and efficiently from joint replacement surgery via an FDA-cleared Virtual Exercise Rehabilitation Assistant called VERA™. Additionally, recognizing that post-acute care (PAC) costs represent almost 50 percent of the total cost of joint replacement, VERA was purpose-built to help patients and healthcare systems ensure the highest-value outcomes.
VERA Digital Therapy Platform Overview
VERA is a digital therapy platform designed by Reflexion Health that integrates a broad menu of prescription rehabilitation exercises, an animated avatar coach, a 3D imaging system for measuring movement and form, functional assessments, an intuitive dashboard for remote clinical review, automatic report generation, and telemedicine capability to deliver a comprehensive, home-based rehabilitation experience.
Using VERA, patients simply stand in front of the specially equipped 3D camera and ‘she’ demonstrates, detects, measures and analyzes individually prescribed movements while providing helpful feedback along the way. In early use, VERA demonstrated increased patient engagement and improved adherence to prescribed exercises, all while increasing the reach of physical therapists into patients’ homes, saving steps, time and money.
VERA has been introduced to patients pre-surgery and concurrently installed in their homes for a seamless, effective and convenient physical rehabilitation experience post-surgery. While recovering at Yale New Haven Hospital, patients will have the opportunity to use VERA in their private patient rooms in the CMC unit. Once home, YNHH therapists will have the ability to remotely monitor their patient’s in-home progress and discuss results by phone or directly through VERA’s telehealth capability to ensure the successful achievement of rehabilitation goals.
“By partnering with one of the most respected and technically advanced healthcare systems in New England, we are excited to help a growing population of patients who are planning for and recovering from joint replacement surgery,” said Dr. Joseph (Joe) Smith, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Reflexion Health in a statement. “VERA’s ability to transform and personalize rehabilitation while increasing patient engagement and satisfaction is a great complement to traditional physical therapy.”
