REVOLUTIONIZING PHYSICAL THERAPY WITH REMOTE MONITORING
Case Study with Hartford Healthcare
In the fast-paced world of healthcare, innovation is key to optimizing patient care and outcomes. Today, we delve into a groundbreaking case study featuring Stephanie Bourassa, a seasoned physical therapist from Hartford Healthcare. Stephanie shares her experience integrating cutting-edge technology into her practice to revolutionize physical therapy and improve patient outcomes.
Meet Stephanie Bourassa, PT, DPT:
Stephanie is no stranger to the complexities of physical therapy. With nearly a decade of experience managing the sports medicine program and motion analysis lab at Hartford Healthcare, she is continuously seeking innovative ways to enhance patient care. Her expertise in optimizing musculoskeletal function and facilitating the safe return of athletes to play, particularly in cases of ACL reconstructions, overuse injuries, and total joint arthroplasty management speaks for itself.
Introducing STRIVE to Stephanie and Hartford Healthcare:
In the fall of 2023, Bourassa was introduced to STRIVE – a groundbreaking technology that transforms human movement monitoring. STRIVE provides real-time monitoring and feedback, enabling practitioners to track muscle activation patterns both in-clinic and remotely with unparalleled accuracy.
Monitoring Muscle Activation During Return to Play:
Bourassa’s team has a strong focus in optimizing the return-to-play process for ACL reconstruction patients. By incorporating STRIVE’s innovative shorts, she can remotely monitor muscle activation patterns during various stages of rehabilitation, including practices, games, and conditioning sessions.
“One of the problem areas that we found a solution for in Strive has been tracking EMG muscle activation during return-to-play scenario,.” Bourassa said. “We have been able to put the shorts on athletes as they are returning to play, to remotely monitor how their muscles are firing during different return to play protocols. This allows for us to identify when the athlete starts to compensate so we can work to make changes, or to identify their work load tolerance and muscle fatigue factor, which allows for us to use the data to allow for them to optimize their participation. This also allows for multiple members of our sports medicine team to keep eyes on the data and the athlete at any given time in their injury management. The user friendly application gives real time data and awesome graphs that makes clinical decision making easy.”
This real-time data allows Bourassa and her team to identify compensatory movements early on, enabling timely interventions to maximize performance and reduce the risk of re-injury.
Remote Therapeutic Monitoring:
Application beyond athletic rehabilitation, STRIVE has opened new solutions for remote therapeutic monitoring. Bourassa’s team has used STRIVE shorts to assess patients’ progress pre- and post-operatively, even in the comfort of their homes. By remotely monitoring patients’ home exercise programs, Bourassa can provide personalized feedback and corrections, ensuring optimal recovery and reducing the need for in-person interventions.
“Having the ability for patients to get access to care when they need it has been a challenge, but with STRIVE, we’re breaking down barriers,” Bourassa said.
As Bourassa and her team at Hartford Healthcare reflect on the impact of STRIVE, she envisions a future where this technology is accessible to all.
“This technology is just on the cusp of its capabilities,” Bourassa remarks. “As someone who has access to a full motion analysis lab, I really see this technology being scalable to the general population, to be utilized in all households, to help guide optimal movement, better muscle engagement, and hopefully reduce overuse injuries that we know are a result of poor movement patterns.”
With its potential to transform movement patterns and reduce overuse injuries, widespread adoption of STRIVE in households and communities isn’t that far off.
Through the integration of the STRIVE Human Movement System, Bourassa has been able to redefined the standards of patient care, paving the way for enhanced recovery and performance optimization.
If you are interested in seeing if STRIVE is right for you and your facility, contact one of our team members today!
