Summary
When CORA Health Services, a multi-clinic physical therapy organization, wanted to elevate patient outcomes and revenue, they implemented a new digital patient engagement program powered by the Medbridge RTM Solution. The program led to broad improvements in patient retention, adherence, outcomes, and satisfaction—demonstrating that patients experienced greater value in both in-person and digital care when participating in RTM.
Results at a glance
243%
Increase in patient activation
69%
Better patient retention
98.5%
Improvement in patient satisfaction
The Challenge
Taking digital care to the next level with the right technology and processes
For many outpatient rehab organizations across the U.S., low patient engagement and high patient drop-off are ongoing challenges, leading to poor outcomes and lost revenue. At CORA Health Services, Medbridge’s patient-friendly education, exercises, and online communication tools had already significantly boosted patient engagement and outcomes.
But implementing remote monitoring would allow CORA to take its digital patient care to the next level by further improving patient engagement and outcomes for Medicare patients and receiving reimbursement for the remote care provided. To reach these goals, CORA needed the right technology and workflows to easily and accurately track clinician and patient activity.
The Solution
An end-to-end solution for remote monitoring
CORA partnered with Medbridge to implement a virtual end-to-end solution for tracking and reporting RTM activities. This standardized, repeatable process helped CORA optimize its digital care program—improving patient activation, keeping patients even more engaged throughout their episode of care, and capturing additional revenue by meeting RTM code requirements for regular patient and clinician activity logging.
To encourage success with RTM, CORA took the following bold steps to supplement their existing care model:
- Providing Medbridge communication training to clinicians to strengthen the therapeutic alliance and creating internal messaging to help staff understand the benefits of sharing home exercise programs electronically.
- Discussing the value of RTM directly with patients, explaining how logging exercise activity, sending messages, and responding to surveys helps create a more personalized and effective recovery experience.
- Centralizing the RTM model by assigning a dedicated case manager to oversee patient monitoring on a regional basis.
Key Learnings
Communicating well with patients about RTM is essential
CORA found that sharing “the why” of logging data online encouraged patient buy-in and follow-through. Team members did this by:
Setting expectations about data logging up front
Discussing the benefits of logging HEP activity
Following up with patients in person about logged data
Following these best practices improved the therapeutic alliance and helped patients respond more positively.
The Results
Significantly higher patient engagement and ROI
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Better Care
By adding RTM to its existing care model, CORA improved patient retention, adherence, outcomes, and satisfaction across the board, indicating that patients found more value in both in-person and online care when enrolled in RTM. Key results include:
- 69 percent better patient retention, from 39 percent to 66 percent.
- 243 percent increased patient activation. Patients enrolled in RTM logged in and activated the patient mobile app 69.7 percent of the time, compared to just 20 percent for non-RTM patients.
- 27 percent improved FOTO effectiveness scores, from 41 percent to 52 percent.
- 98.5 percent better patient satisfaction.
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Strong ROI
With RTM, CORA’s digital care model has produced a strong return on investment through:
- Increased revenue. For patients with an activated RTM episode who have logged into the app and are participating in monitoring, the average reimbursement was $152.51 per episode.
- Improved patient retention and reimbursement. CORA found significant differences in patient retention rates between RTM and non-RTM patients. Patients enrolled in RTM had a much higher rate of completion for their visits, indicating that RTM leads to better follow-through with in-person care—and additional reimbursement for providers in fee-for-service environments.
