Rehab Center Will Test Outpatient Monitoring System
Study will use Datos Health's Open Care platform
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a rehabilitation center located in Chicago, Illinois, will conduct a study that will use Datos Health‘s remote care platform Open Care to monitor physical activity in people with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders.
“The research study will allow us to determine the feasibility of remote therapeutic monitoring for clinicians and patients alike,” Miriam Rafferty, PhD, director of implementation science at Shirley Ryan, said in a press release. “It also will enable us to study how remote monitoring can enable data-driven decision-making.”
Physiotherapy, which involves exercises and stretching that help maintain and improve physical function, is an integral part of care for Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions.
Most physiotherapy is done in an outpatient setting. A person usually goes to a clinic, works with a therapist for about an hour, and then leaves the clinic to go about the rest of their day.
Physiotherapy’s best outcomes are generally achieved when the patient continues to do exercises at home and maintains a certain level of activity outside the clinic. However, it can be challenging to find the time and energy to stick with exercises when there isn’t a clinician around to hold you accountable.
Datos Health’s Open Care platform leverages data gathered by a patient’s personal devices, such as smart watches and fitness trackers, as well as wearable technology supplied by the clinic, to track an individual’s physical activity.
It can be used to measure data such as patients’ daily steps, time spent doing vigorous activity, heart rate, and physical activity intensity, as assessed with the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion scale.
The platform includes an app that patients can use to access their data, as well as a dashboard with which clinicians can check on data for patients in their care and set patient notifications.
The integrated system allows clinicians to fine-tune rehab programs for patients on the fly, and importantly it may make it easier for clinicians to intervene in a timely manner where needed.
The new study will explore the feasibility of using the platform to remotely monitor physical activity and exercise progress in people with Parkinson’s, as well as multiple sclerosis, lower extremity and chronic lower back pain, stroke, or mild traumatic brain injury or concussion.
“We see potential in therapeutic monitoring to improve long-term outcomes, and we’re looking forward to evaluating the results of this study,” said Uri Bettesh, founder and CEO of Datos.
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