Using virtual care to help patients recover from surgery | Data Book podcast

For years, patients recovering from injuries or surgeries would get some papers with illustrations designed to guide them through physical therapy.

Mark Lieberman, president and co-founder of Force Therapeutics, talks about his digital care platform on the latest Data Book podcast.

Mark Lieberman, president and co-founder of Force Therapeutics, says patients can do better with a digital platform. Force’s platform includes video to help guide patients as they recover from surgery.

Lieberman talked about digital care for musculoskeletal patients on the latest episode of the Data Book podcast from Chief Healthcare Executive®.

“Video and animation have really enhanced the ability to follow a care plan,” he says.

Lieberman helped build the New York-based company 12 years ago. Now, the company works with several health systems and has treated more than 700,000 patients.

“We view ourselves as a comprehensive digital platform for recovery from major and minor surgery. Patients are enrolled in Force at the time that they're scheduled for surgery. And we typically manage a patient for 90 to 120 days in the home,” he says.

Recently, Force Therapeutics began partnering with UConn Health to offer orthopedic care virtually for musculoskeletal patients.

“They wanted to use Force to really take care of providing better health equity and access to patients that were having trouble getting into the hospital, had no access to physical therapy, had transportation issues, and weren't following a standardized plan of care,” he says.

Lieberman touts the convenience of the platform for patients, who can follow exercises to aid in their recovery at home. He says the platform is designed to complement the care from providers.

“There's absolute value to the in-person visit,” Lieberman says. “There's an absolute value to having the clinician and the doctor driving diagnosis and prescription and management of the patient. But there's also value to complement that with digital care resources. So we call ourselves provider-driven virtual care, which is different than removing the doctor entirely from the care experience.”

During the podcast, Lieberman talks about Force’s work with health systems, health equity, and how AI is going to be playing a bigger role in orthopedic care. He also offers some advice for startup health tech companies.

“I guess what I would say is make sure that you're focused on proving that your product works,” Lieberman says. “Because ultimately, it's the fastest way to get put out of business if your platform is not delivering on its promise. And so I think investing heavily in the product, at the beginning, is the most important exercise.”