Moveit - Physiotherapy 4.0

Moveit: Human-technology buddy up to reduce pain and increase mobility with radically more affordable physiotherapy services, accessed at users’ convenience.  

The problem we are solving is the global lack of access to affordable physiotherapy services in the community. This is especially so for people who need the services to maintain or improve their independent mobility on a long-term basis, due who are experiencing functional decline and chronic conditions (from arthritis to stroke etc). 

With ageing and growing populations, the demand for physiotherapy services is set to increase dramatically. UN estimates that the world population will reach 8 billion by 2023 with more than 14% expected to be aged 60 and above. The current way of providing physiotherapy services is not ideal for broader access and is not sustainable:

(1) physiotherapist professionals require extensive years of training limiting their numbers and they are not maximising their productive capacities in most one to one settings as many of the therapy exercises can be carried out by aides or caregivers with some basic training and guidance

(2) this shortage of supply makes physiotherapy inaccessible to many who need the services, either due to long wait-time or requiring them to skip work to meet the schedule for subsidised services, or prohibitively high cost of un-subsidised services.

(3) the huge patient load causes pressure to discharge patient prematurely. Even at discharge, adequate follow ups are often lacking and thus recovery is not assured the best opportunity.

As a result, many who require the services especially on a regular basis, are not getting the services they need. This compromise the maintenance and improvement of their mobility, which affects their ability to live healthy and productive lives.

Moveit intends to use service redesign of physiotherapy and deployment of digital technologies to enable (i) more efficient use of physiotherapists’ time for critical diagnostics/evaluation and prescriptive functions and (ii) use of therapy aides or trained caregivers who can be deployed on-demand, to provide the needed physical intervention at the users’ convenience.

The technologies that we intend to deploy in a phased approach include:

(1) Digital library of diagnostics/evaluation checks and physical interventions (with instructions for support, physical manipulation required and observations to note)

(2) Internet-of-Things sensors for movement tracking

(3) Data analytics to provide better documentation of condition, evidence of efficacy and track progress toward individual goals

(4) AI (machine learning) leveraging on data collected to better support diagnostics/review and customised intervention plans for users

The solution will improve the quality of life for seniors and other population segments with mobility challenges through the radically more affordable and evidence-based physiotherapy services that extend their abilities to pursue active life opportunities. It will also unlock the workforce from the community that can be tapped for healthcare services as therapy assistance professionals. It will provide skills upgrading, income opportunities and fulfilling work for individuals who require more flexible working hours, especially those who are active seniors and those who have to provide caregiving for their aged or young family members.  

The solution shifts the current paradigm of therapy which requires heavy reliance on traditional healthcare institutions for training and provision of allied health professionals. It aims to leverage on a combination of industry-ready technologies in knowledge management, motion sensors, data analytics and AI with modifications for application to create digital health platform that can scale with the physiotherapy needs of the population across the world in an inclusive manner.

(1) Online platform for pre-diagnostic assessment and booking of services on-demand 

(2) Video call for remote access to physiotherapists for diagnosis, prescription and individual care plan setup/review, supported by therapy aides on site

(3) Digital library loads prescribed interventions for service and instructions for assessment recording

(4) Therapy aides submits activities and progress to cloud, users will receive update in account. Data analytics tracks efficacy of intervention.

[2nd phase]:

(5) Wearable IOT sensors automate data collection on mobility status and progress.

(6) AI to support recommendations of interventions/modifications and trigger for diagnostics/review, through analysing data on users' movements and progress. 

To launch beta platform in Singapore and one other overseas market, partner at least 5 healthcare or community organisations to support the needs of seniors from lower-income families and/or have little social support.

Our ambition is to be able to impact at least 20 million people globally in improving their mobility and enable 1 million individuals to be trained to provide therapy services in the community with Moveit, expanding the workforce in the digital health industry.  will scale using the digital platform in partnership with local organisations to provide localised training and extended reach into the community. Partner institutions with spare capacity for therapy facilities or develop shared “therapy space” to make centre-based location options available for users.

We will reach our potential customers through online content marketing, partnerships with primary healthcare organisations (for step-down care), corporate staff welfare programmes and partnerships with insurance companies. We will also partner charities to reach affected seniors who are from lower income families or have little social support.

N.A. Idea Phase.

We are targeting to serve 10,000 users with our beta solution by the end of 12 months. We are aiming to reach 3 million regular users by end of year 3. We anticipate the primary service recipients to be senior citizens above the age of 60, they will see their mobility improved over a regular intervention plan of at least 3 months and their progress will be backed by data.

Our team has a combination of public policy, service design, healthcare and entrepreneurship experience, with linkages to the tech startup ecosystem. We believe we have what it takes to attract complementing co-founders, partners and collaborators to actualise the solution.

Our digital platform will offer on-demand matching of services where we will charge a % fee over transaction amount. We will also offer a mix of monthly subscription plans to lock-in longer term value, for users that graduate from physical intervention services they can subscribe to basic services for periodic monitoring/review and customised exercises for mobility-related health goals.  

To access global collaborators and potential partnerships that can help actualise the solution.

Lack of familiarity to market and scale a consumer-facing digital health platform (though we will also be tapping B2B channels which we are more familiar with) and know-how for developing and integrating the technologies for implementation.