Zimmer Biomet and Apple launch major clinical study detailing patient experience and improving joint replacement journey

Clinical study utilizes the Zimmer Biomet mymobility™ app on Apple Watch and iPhone to guide patients through pre- and post-op care.

Art Salzfass, 83, and Rhona Lishinsky, 67, test the Apple Watch Series 4. Geoffrey A. Fowler, The Washington Post

Ingrid Lunden, Techcrunch October 15, 2018

Apple has made health — and helping people keep tabs on theirs — a cornerstone of how it is presenting the benefits of its newest Apple Watch, and today comes news of another way that this is taking shape. Zimmer Biomet, a world leader in developing the components and systems for joint replacements, says that it is working with Apple on a new clinical study focused on people who get knee and hip replacements.

The trial will come in three stages, and within two years, Zimmer Biomet projects that there to be up to 10,000 people involved, Ted Spooner, Zimmer Biomet’s vice president of connected health, said in an interview.

It will cover three aspects of patient care, he said: monitoring patients before and after operations using sensors on the Apple Watch and iPhone; providing education and information to patients to help improve their pre- and post-operation care, and providing a communications channel between doctors, caregivers and patients to ask questions, give answer and more, using Zimmer Biomet’s mymobility app.

Source Techcrunch

IIBTV: Zimmer Biomet App Innovating Post-Op Care. After knee or hip replacement surgery, some patients are using technology to get through post-op care, instead of traditional physical therapy. In the Business of Health, learn how the Zimmer Biomet mymobility app on Apple Watch and iPhone is helping patients. Inside Indiana Business. Youtube Dec 5, 2018

PRNewswire October 15, 2018

Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., a global leader in musculoskeletal healthcare, is working with Apple by using Apple Watch and iPhone to change the patient journey for two of the most common surgeries Americans undergo each year — knee and hip replacement. This collaboration has yielded Zimmer Biomet mymobility™ — an app that uses Apple Watch to facilitate a new level of connection between patients and their surgical care teams, which can immediately impact the journey patients experience when they undergo these procedures.

In addition to the app, Zimmer Biomet is commencing the mymobility Clinical Study, designed to study the app’s impact on patient outcomes and overall costs for joint replacement patients. During this research study, patients will use Zimmer Biomet mymobility with Apple Watch as they progress through their hip or knee replacement journey.

Researchers will combine patient-reported feedback with continuous health and activity data from Apple Watch to provide new insights into the power of the Zimmer Biomet mymobility app to impact the standard of care for these common surgeries.

The study is launching today and has the possibility to enroll as many as 10,000 patient participants in the United States.

“We are incredibly excited to work with Apple to transform the knee and hip replacement experience for patients and surgeons,” said Bryan Hanson, President and CEO, Zimmer Biomet. “At Zimmer Biomet, we are committed to improving care decisions through digital health and we are thrilled to launch one of the largest evidence-gathering clinical studies in orthopaedic history.”

“We believe one of the best ways to empower consumers is by giving them the ability to use their health and activity information to improve their own care,” said Jeff Williams, Chief Operating Officer, Apple. “We are proud to enable knee and hip replacement patients to use their own data and share it with their doctors seamlessly, so that they can participate in their care and recovery in a way not previously possible through traditional in-person visits. This solution will connect consumers with their doctors continuously, before and after surgery.”

More than one million knee and hip replacements occur annually in the U.S. This number is expected to grow to 3.5 million by 2035, yet standardization of care and recovery for the procedures is still lacking and costs to the U.S. healthcare system continue to rise.

Zimmer Biomet mymobility and Apple Watch will act as a virtual and continuous care team on a patient’s wrist. Patients will be provided with support and guidance as they prepare for and recover from these surgeries, while surgeons will be delivered continuous data to optimize care.

The new mymobility app has several features that use both Apple Watch and iPhone through the joint replacement journey, including the ability for surgeons to guide and send therapy reminders directly to the patient’s Apple Watch. The app also allows surgeons to monitor patient activity levels throughout the days and weeks while they are preparing for and recovering from surgery.

Source PRNewswire

mymobility™ clinical study

The mymobility Clinical Study is being conducted by Zimmer Biomet to evaluate a potential new standard of pre- and post-operative care for hip and knee replacement surgery. The study is designed to determine if a mobile application paired with accurate and sensitive activity monitoring, captured from consumer wearables for the entire episode of hip or knee joint replacement, can provide a viable alternative to the current standard of care.

Through the use of a smartphone and wearable wrist companion, the mymobility app provides instruction and opportunities for enhanced engagement between the patient and healthcare provider. This mobile application is designed to work with the Apple Watch^® wearable companion to remind patients to check their smartphone application daily, to read pre-planned and timed educational information, perform tasks, and complete assigned exercises; understanding their condition and care plan gives patients the ability to actively participate in optimizing their surgical outcome.

Study sites

The mymobility Clinical Study requires qualified patients and personalized care plans that begin before each patient’s procedure and continue postoperatively. These care plans include the use of education, questionnaires, and exercises.

Once active, the mobile application serves as a communication tool between patients and their care team and communicates with the Apple Watch, providing information and instruction to help optimize recovery. Surgeons use a clinician dashboard to monitor the threshold values and actively observe progress throughout each patient’s journey.

Through the adoption of multifunctional sensor technology in the form of a wearable companion on the wrist, mymobility provides the potential to identify metrics that may permit further refinement of pre and postsurgical care.

Facilities participating in the mymobility Clinical Study include:

Academic centers

University of Utah Health
Rush University Medical Center
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital/Emory Healthcare

Hospitals

Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Southern California
Newton-Wellesley Hospital, member of Partners HealthCare founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Centura Health, Porter Hospital – Colorado Joint Replacement (CJR)

Group practices/ambulatory surgery centers

ROC Orthopedics, affiliated with Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center
OrthoBethesda
OrthoArizona
Midwest Center for Joint Replacement
Hartzband Center for Hip & Knee Replacement
New Mexico Orthopaedic Associates
The DeClaire LaMacchia Orthopaedic Institute, affiliated with Michigan Institute for Advanced Surgery
Joint Implant Surgeons
Orthopedic and Fracture Clinic
Panorama Orthopedic and Spine Center

Source Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.