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The Association of Physiotherapists of the Basque Country seeks to be at the forefront of innovation by offering digital rehabilitation software to its members.
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This new software, known as TRAK, offers safe, high-quality digital rehabilitation through which therapeutic exercise treatments can be prescribed and monitored remotely using artificial intelligence.
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The digital physiotherapy application was tested in three Spanish hospitals on a total of 60 patients with shoulder injuries, resulting in improvements in 98% of the participants.
Today’s healthcare system is gradually moving towards the implementation of digital media in its action model. This is no different in the field of physiotherapy, where the situation experienced in the recent pandemic prompted the need to create a remote method of action that would guarantee patient care for the rehabilitation service.
According to the Lancet, one third of the world’s population is in need of rehabilitation treatment. Aware of this fact, the WHO launched the Rehab2030 initiative to seek ways to make rehabilitation more accessible through technology, highlighting two aspects: ubiquity and accessibility must be one of the great advantages of digitalisation.
For years, all medical specialties have focused on the development of the curative and care field, and the real challenge lies before that, in that the sector is able to provide care that covers all preventive areas.From this point of view, the area of rehabilitation will be one of the major beneficiaries of digitalisation.
For this reason, the College of Physiotherapists of the Basque Country (COFPV) has signed a collaboration agreement with the digital rehabilitation startup TRAK to take its members one step further in this technological renovation. This tool uses the camera of mobile devices, laptops or tablets to read the movements of patients with artificial intelligence and allow remote monitoring of treatments. In turn, the patient receives real-time corrections via voice and text commands.
TRAK presents its platform as a solution to the problem of patients’ lack of adherence to home treatments and as a form of business diversification to help physiotherapists create a digital helpline.
This is how its COO and co-founder Carlos Rodríguez-Sierra, from Guipuzcoa, put it: “Our objective from the beginning was to create a tool that would help rehabilitation professionals to ensure that physiotherapy is universal, that is, that it reaches any patient, anywhere”.
Towards the adaptation of digital rehabilitation
TRAK tele-rehabilitation software gives the physiotherapist the possibility to offer the patient a comprehensive and continuous treatment at home so that the rehabilitation process is not interrupted. And it allows them to easily monetise the digital physiotherapy sessions carried out so that they can create a digital rehabilitation service adaptable to their business model.
To validate the effectiveness of the platform, the startup from San Sebastian carried out a study in three Spanish hospitals in which 60 patients with shoulder injuries participated. In this study, 98% of the participants experienced an improvement and rated the experience as very positive. “Even the older people, who we thought at first would find it more difficult to use the platform, indicated that it was very easy to use,” insists Vital.
The COFPV sees the platform as a way of establishing a link between digital physiotherapy and its members. The key points of the alliance will be: access for members with increased features in the free version of TRAK, where a total of 10 patients can be added to the digital platform (5 more than in the standard free version); unlimited access to the more than 800 exercises in the application’s library, adapted to any patient profile; and the creation of up to 10 fully customisable protocols of their own.
The agreement offers members of the association the possibility of acquiring the professional version of the platform at a 25% discount.
This collaboration is an example of the work carried out by institutions such as the COFPV with the aim of promoting responsible health and focused on improving the quality of life of citizens, as well as facilitating the work of physiotherapists.
TRAK:
TRAK Health Solutions is a company founded in 2020 dedicated to the creation of technological solutions for health. Its product, TRAK, is the tele-rehabilitation software for the prescription of therapeutic exercise sessions. It includes an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of identifying up to 20 joint points on the human body and only needs the camera of a laptop or smartphone to analyse the movement and correct the patient in real time. In addition, the session is recorded and the mobility, range and strength data is sent to the professional for personalised patient monitoring. Its 3 founding partners are aware of the need to modernise the sector and launched the platform to make healthcare and physiotherapy more accessible to patients.
Official College of Physiotherapists of the Basque Country:
The Official Association of Physiotherapists of the Basque Country is the professional association that regulates the professional practice of physiotherapists in the Basque Country. Founded in 2001, its main office is in Bilbao (Basque Country). It is a public law entity at the service of the citizens, which is concerned with promoting the health of the population and improving their quality of life. For this reason, the college regulates, promotes training and guarantees the ethical practice and quality of physiotherapy care.
