Study: Fewer Physical Therapy, E.R. Visits Associated With mymobility Platform

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc., a global leader in musculoskeletal healthcare, announced preliminary results from a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial to evaluate the impact of mymobility with Apple Watch*, a first-of-its-kind remote care management platform. The data were presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), held Nov. 5-8 in Dallas.   
 
mymobility with Apple Watch enables frequent, virtual connections between patients and healthcare professionals throughout the joint replacement surgery journey with the goal of facilitating remote episode of care management and lowering the overall cost of care. These data show that using the mymobility remote care management platform on Apple Watch and iPhone for primary knee arthroplasty demonstrated similar early outcomes to traditional care models, while requiring significantly fewer physical therapy visits (p<0.0001). In addition, the mymobility cohort of patients reported fewer emergency department visits and lower rates of hospital readmission.
 
“We’re very excited to debut early results from one of the largest clinical studies in orthopedics designed to evaluate the impact of the mymobility remote care management platform on patient outcomes and overall costs of care,” said Yvonne Bokelman, vice president, Clinical Affairs and Market Access, at Zimmer Biomet. “An integral part of our end-to-end connected-care solutions, mymobility uses data informatics and digital technology to facilitate communications and engagement between patients and healthcare professionals. It is designed to improve adherence to recovery regimens and increase efficiency and value across the entire continuum of care.”   
 
Zimmer Biomet’s mymobility on Apple Watch and iPhone acts as a virtual and continuous care team member, providing patients with support and guidance as they prepare for and recover from joint replacement surgeries. mymobility leverages the sensors on Apple Watch to allow the monitoring of a patient’s real-time activity (e.g., number of steps, stairs, stand time and heart rate) and post-operative progress. That information is delivered to the patient’s care team on an ongoing basis so they can make data-driven decisions regarding a patient’s recovery and risk of complications.
 
“We’re pleased to see that early evidence from a randomized controlled clinical study shows that mymobility demonstrated comparable treatment outcomes and lower healthcare utilization, which could translate to lower costs associated with postoperative recovery,” said Adolph V. Lombardi Jr., M.D., FACS, one of the study investigators and president of JIS Orthopedics in New Albany, Ohio. “Using tools like mymobility to virtually communicate with our patients and remotely track and manage post-op recovery is especially critical now, with limited in-person interactions due to the pandemic.”
 
The data presented at the 2020 AAHKS annual meeting evaluated 448 patients who underwent total or partial knee arthroplasty, commonly known as joint replacement. Patients in this phase of the study were randomized to a mymobility smartphone-based exercise and educational platform group, or a control group, who received traditional care, and evaluated for 90 days. At 90 days after surgery, the data showed no significant differences between the mymobility and control groups in range of motion of the treated knee or manual manipulation of the knee under anesthesia. In addition, the data showed that in comparison to the control group, the mymobility group required significantly fewer physical therapy visits (p<0.0001)†. Although the mymobility group utilized fewer emergency department visits and had lower readmission rates, these findings were not statistically significant. 

* Apple Watch is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.

† The treatment group was not initially prescribed physical therapy; however, these patients could be prescribed physical therapy if their surgeon determined it necessary.