Resources for patient home education have changed drastically in the last 10 years. Video demonstrations and exercise plan customization are now available via numerous home exercise software programs. These tools can bring professional instruction into a patient’s home. Soon, home exercise programs may even be able to remind and monitor patients as they exercise at home.
Effective home exercise programs have the potential to increase both patient and clinic outcomes. Although most clinics still use printed diagrams and pass out folders filled with photocopies of exercise demonstrations, as reimbursements shift towards rewarding outcomes, transitioning to more effective software options makes sense.
Cloud-based software and home exercise apps are available for basically any budget — from free, pay-per-month, to purchase. Thanks to constantly evolving technology, you have plenty of choices for home exercise software. Looking for a new home exercise program to recommend to patients, but not sure where to start?
Consider these five PT home exercise software programs
If you’re currently in the market for home exercise software, we’ve compiled the following lists of helpful physical therapy home exercise programs you may wish to add to your arsenal of patient education:
- HEP2Go
- About: HEP, or Home Exercise Program, is an online program for rehab professionals to post and share home exercise programs for patients. It features pages of exercise programs you can recommend to patients, sorted by body region, with the option to upload your own customized routines.
- Reputation: HEP2GO is popular in PT practices, and has also been recommended in the APTA PT in Motion
- Price: Users can sign up for a free basic membership, which includes access to all content, the ability to create unlimited exercises and save routines. The pro plan is also available for a monthly fee, which offers additional upgrades to users, such as the ability to brand your own page and share routines.
- Home Exercise Program by WebPT
- About: To help your patients get the most from their treatment, WebPT brings you its exclusive Home Exercise Program. You’ll gain access to an extensive library of videos, photos, line drawings and instructions that you can use to supplement your patients’ home exercises through email access. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can create your own programs and instructions.
- Reputation: The program is founded by a married couple with experience in both sports PT and software development, and its website is chock full of testimonials from physical therapists who have put it to the test. Plus, WebPT received 4 out of 5 stars in a list of consumer reviews.
- Price: When you visit the website, you can try a free demo, or sign up for a monthly plan.
- theraVid
- About: Available through strivelabs, theraVid is an online software program designed to change “the way individuals and health systems manage the most common health condition: musculoskeletal disease.” Using theraVid, you can contact your patients through an online portal with messages, surveys and targeted content. You can also post and share custom exercise programs, with the ability to track patients’ logged workouts and monitor their progress.
- Reputation: physicaltherapyweb.com recommended theravid in a list of top exercise prescription software.
- Price: The website offers a pricing calculator, to help you scale the cost of the software to your business need.
- Real Time Rehab
- About: This software program boasts the ability to quickly and easily create home exercise programs for your patients — in 30 seconds or less. The company works closely with PTs to ensure all exercise programs are high quality and effective. You’ll be able to choose from a library of more than 1,600 exercises, and email them to your patients for viewing on their computer, tablet or smartphone. When you visit the website, you can view short demos, and contact the company for more information.
- Reputation: Real Time Rehab founder and owner, Jeremy Green, was able to create the program after entering his idea for the program into Tulsa’s 2009 Entrepreneurial Spirit Award — and winning. Multiple positive testimonials are available on the website homepage.
- Price: Information is available by contacting Real Time Rehab.
- Exercise Pro
- About: Created by BioEX Systems, Exercise Pro allows PTs to create custom exercise programs for patient education. Created by a physical therapist, Exercise Pro is a network-based, password-protected software system used in many clinics and hospitals as a teaching tool. Exercise Pro offers a robust list of features.
- Reputation: The BioEx website includes a page of clients currently using the product, along with testimonials.
- Price: Pricing is available on the website and based on the software package you select. Instruction is available in English, Spanish and French, with software updates and tech support offered free of charge.
What’s your favorite Rehabilitation Home Exercise Program?
Please use the comments section below and let us know what’s working well for your clinic. If we’ve missed your favorite, let us know and we’ll add it to the list. Which home exercise programs do you use for occupational and speech patients? Your input is valuable and we’d love to hear from you!
Check out PT Solutions! We’re a therapy staffing agency run by physical therapists, and we know the ins and outs of the healthcare industry. We’ll work with you for a staffing strategy that includes just the therapists your facility needs. To learn more, contact PT Solutions today!
