Program designed to provide more convenient and affordable physical therapy support via the Kaia Health app, including real-time exercise feedback leveraging artificial intelligence
Treatment of musculoskeletal conditions, such as back, knee or shoulder pain, accounts for 10% of annual medical expenses, underscoring the importance of virtual physical therapy support
UnitedHealthcare has introduced a new Virtual Physical Therapy program to help improve support for people with musculoskeletal issues, providing eligible members with 24/7, on-demand exercise feedback powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
The program builds upon a broad set of musculoskeletal solutions for employers designed to help enhance health outcomes, reduce costs and avoid often unnecessary invasive treatments, such as imaging, surgery or opioid prescriptions.
Key details about Virtual Physical Therapy include:
● Eligible members recovering from surgery or injury start by completing an assessment of current issues, either on a mobile device or at myuhc.com, and will receive a referral to Virtual Physical Therapy if appropriate. Qualified members then download the Kaia Health app, which uses an AI-based system to help support individuals through physical therapy (PT) exercises and deliver personalized feedback to help ensure the movements are done correctly.
● Program participants also have access to one-to-one health coaching, including by phone or via the in-app chat feature, along with educational information, and meditation and breathing exercises to help with pain management and relaxation. Health coaches are available to help motivate members, assist with setting realistic goals and encourage adherence to the recommended exercises.
● To track progress and determine if further support is needed, the app uses motion monitoring to provide feedback in real-time, offering suggestions akin to what people might receive from a physical therapist at an in-person appointment. The exercises are analyzed over time by the app’s “triage” algorithms, along with self-reported outcomes such as perceived pain levels and mobility, to help identify members in need of additional coaching or intervention.
The new program is important given that an estimated 50% of U.S. adults are affected by musculoskeletal conditions, such as back, knee or shoulder pain, with associated treatments accounting for approximately 10% of annual medical expenses.[1] While many orthopedic procedures may be beneficial, a recent study found that some treatments are no more effective than noninvasive options, including exercise, physical therapy or acupuncture.
“UnitedHealthcare’s Virtual Physical Therapy program offers people the convenience of 24/7 access to PT coaching sessions at home or on the go, further enhancing our holistic approach to help address musculoskeletal issues by combining advanced technology with proactive engagement, personalized support, and consumer-centric benefit designs,” said Russell Amundson, M.D., national senior medical director, UnitedHealthcare. “With millions of Americans experiencing orthopedic issues currently or at some point during their lifetimes, this AI-driven approach supplements our existing virtual physical therapy benefit with a new resource to help people recover from injury or surgery.
Virtual Physical Therapy is part of UnitedHealthcare’s focus on expanding the use of virtual care and digital health resources, which is bolstered by an annual enterprise-wide investment of over $5 billion in data, technology and innovation. The program is available nationwide as a buy-up option for employers with self-funded health plans.
Separately, to help enable access to in-person and virtual PT appointments, UnitedHealthcare maintains a nationwide network over 65,000 physical and occupational therapists. Members enrolled in UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored medical plans may be able to opt for virtual PT appointments with local therapists, with those appointments covered under a policy that continues to reimburse local providers for administering certain care through telehealth as an alternative to in-person visits*.
* Eligible plan participants must have remaining physical therapy visits under their plan.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.5 million physicians and care professionals, and 7,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter.