The rise of digital Home Exercise Programs (HEPs)

It’s time to update paper HEPs

Traditionally, clinicians and other health professionals would hand out paper-based exercise plans for patients to follow at home. These handouts typically included pictures of exercises with written instructions on how to perform each exercise correctly and  the prescribed sets and repetitions. However, this approach has several shortcomings:

1. Engagement: The lack of interaction and engagement can make paper-based exercise programs dull. The static images can only convey so much information, leaving patients to interpret the rest. This can lead to a lack of motivation and adherence to the program, ultimately impacting recovery or fitness goals.
2. Understanding: Despite the best efforts to provide clear instructions, some exercises can be complex and difficult to understand solely from text and images. Misinterpretation can lead to incorrect execution, minimizing effectiveness, and in extreme cases potentially lead to injury.
3. Feedback and Progress Tracking: With paper-based exercise plans, patients often don't have a direct channel to provide feedback or ask questions. Additionally, tracking progress can be manual and cumbersome, which can discourage patients from keeping up with it or result in them forgetting to ask important questions at follow-up visits.

Digital HEPs: the future of home exercise prescription

Digital HEPs are emerging as a more engaging, interactive, and effective way to keep patients on track with their exercise regimen. They use a mix of media, such as videos and interactive elements, to make exercising more fun and easier to understand — mimicking the experience of exercising with a professional. Some key advantages of OneStep’s digital HEP include:

1. Interactive Guidance: OneStep’s vast video library includes over thousands of professionally created video exercises. The videos show not only the proper form, but also pacing of each exercise with voice-over instructions to ensure patients understand the movement and perform it correctly. Unlike some digital HEPs, patients who are prescribed OneStep HEPs can follow along in real-time with their exercises and don’t have to count their own sets/reps — improving accuracy and engagement.
2. Motivation and Engagement: With OneStep, clinicians are able to prescribe exercise courses so that when a patient logs into the app to do their home exercises, they know exactly what they have to do that day. This unique and interactive set up motivates patients to hit their exercise goals and enables providers to see how many days/week their patients are completing their HEP.
3. Personalized Programs: Clinicians can choose from premade templates or customize their own protocols. Clinicians are also able to record their own videos to include if they want specific modifications or instructions to ensure the individual needs of their patient are always met. Plus, OneStep uses proprietary machine learning algorithms to auto suggest exercises based on current best practices and patient profile — helping clinicians create data-driven customized programs in seconds.
4. Progress Tracking and Feedback: Real-time tracking of progress and the ability to provide instant feedback make it easier for both the patients and healthcare professionals to keep track of performance. Moreover, any necessary adjustments to the program can be made immediately without having to wait until the next meeting, improving the overall effectiveness of the program — making the care experience more efficient and enjoyable for patients and providers alike.
5. Hybrid Care Models: Using a great digital HEP is a key aspect of remote care. OneStep’s HEP is part of a comprehensive platform that has all the tools necessary for digital care and remote therapeutic monitoring.

Are you ready to try digital HEPs with your patients?

The adoption of digital HEPs marks significant advancement in not only the rehabilitation space, but across the healthcare ecosystem to help bridge the gap between in-person treatment and at home carry over.  Plus, hybrid care models are the future of patient care, so properly adding digital touchpoints is more important now than ever. While digital tools will never replace the human touch, they can certainly be leveraged to improve outcomes and the care experience — for patients and providers alike!

Learn how OneStep’s smartphone-only motion lab and all-in-one digital care platform have everything clinicians need to deliver exceptional care — both onsite and virtually.

‍