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How do you foresee devices that monitor individual patient parameters will impact factors such as risk of rehospitalization, infection and revision surgery?
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Wearables encourage commitment
Devices to monitor individual patient parameters will have a positive impact in the field of orthopedic surgery. Giving these tools to patients allows them the opportunity to be more involved in their care. This increased sense of responsibility will encourage commitment that can have a positive impact on patient-reported outcomes. In addition, monitoring certain parameters while patients are at home and being able to act on the results can lower the risk of perhaps unnecessary rehospitalization or emergency room visits.
Carola F. van Eck, MD, PhD, is assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh.
Disclosure: van Eck reports no relevant financial disclosures.
Disruptive, immediate impact
Whether you realize it or not, wearable technology is monitoring your every move. Your phone tracks your movements, listens to your conversations and knows how well you slept last night. A wristband can count your calories, measure your temperature, assess your heart rate and “coach” your workouts. Wearables for elite athletes allow coaches and athletic trainers to quantify impact hits in contact sports, monitor for concussion symptoms and record the distance run during a soccer match.
It only makes sense this technology will spill over into the orthopedic world. With increasing focus on value-based treatments, wearable technology has the potential to have a disruptive and immediate impact on postoperative care. For instance, devices can already measure joint range of motion (ROM), acceleration and exercise activity, data that could be used to individualize patient follow-up. In fact, studies have shown close monitoring of postoperative patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores can decrease health care costs by reducing unnecessary postoperative visits. The synergistic effect of coupling existing PRO technology with real-time data from wearable technology postoperatively could not only decrease visits, but also assist in early recognition of complications.
In addition to providing feedback on patient compliance and postoperative progress, wearable technology can help improve patient “buy-in.” Research has demonstrated that patients are more likely to comply with postoperative protocols when they know their progress is being monitored. Wearables also could be used to personalize postoperative exercises based on individual patient performance.
Finally, wearable technology can help in return-to-play (RTP) decisions. Instead of basing these decisions on time from surgery or subjective clinical assessments, wearables can provide valuable objective data on neuromuscular limb control and joint stability and ROM. This feedback could improve the precision of RTP decisions and provide cost savings by reducing reinjury rates associated with premature RTP.
In summary, orthopedic surgeons should embrace wearable technology with an open mind. Wearables have the potential to reduce health care costs and improve patient outcomes by decreasing unnecessary postoperative visits, providing early recognition of complications, increasing patient ownership in rehabilitation and improving the accuracy of RTP decisions.
Jeremy M. Burnham, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon at Bone & Joint Sports Medicine in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Disclosure: Burnham reports no relevant financial disclosures.