With as many as 60% of falls happening in or near the home, remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) may hold the key to acting proactively, before a fall occurs. Remote therapeutic monitoring helps you stay better connected with your healthcare provider, such as a physical therapist, so that they can monitor your movement and reach out if they notice you are at an increased risk of falls. Specifically, monitoring gait remotely can provide valuable insight that may otherwise be missed during traditional in-person visits.
What is remote therapeutic monitoring?
Remote therapeutic monitoring, often abbreviated as RTM, is a new way for physical therapists to have better patient insight beyond in-person visits. Using a specific medical device, in some cases as simple as downloading an app onto your phone, physical therapists can actually view how you are moving and even walking – which gives them important information on whether or not you may be at risk for falls or need an in-person follow-up. Remote therapeutic monitoring also allows your healthcare provider to see how you answer certain questionnaires and stay in touch with you via chat or video messaging.
OneStep uses gait analysis data for better remote therapeutic monitoring
OneStep uses first-of-its-kind technology to continuously monitor motion and gait using only a smartphone. This means that whenever you have your phone on you and have enabled permission for background analysis, OneStep is able to capture important insights that can be used by your healthcare providers to improve your treatment and keep you safe. OneStep’s gait analysis technology is the only of its kind to capture your gait pattern, also known as the way you walk, during real-world circumstances of everyday life. Oftentimes the way you walk may differ from how you walk when you’re aware someone is assessing you, such as in a clinic. That’s why gait analysis with OneStep is an important component of remote therapeutic monitoring, providing greater visibility into the way you actually move when you aren’t thinking about it. Physical therapists can review this data and use it to help guide their treatments, show you your progress, and be alerted if a certain parameter indicates a change in the way you move or an increased risk for falls.
Remote gait analysis and fall risk assessments
Did you know that physical therapists can actually tell if you are at an increased risk for falls by performing a gait analysis, or analyzing the way you walk? It’s true! There are certain qualities of a walk, such as speed and consistency, that can be indicators of fall risk. Remote monitoring of gait analysis data offers powerful information, and when done over time can help identify these changes early on and lead to proactive intervention – keeping you safe, mobile, and independent.
Remote therapeutic monitoring is a helpful tool that when implemented along with gait analysis technology can help you reach your mobility goals and feel confident that your physical therapist has the insight they need to provide you with the most personalized treatment available.
