By Samantha Denefrio, PhD

What is it?

Force Therapeutics is a platform for physical therapy that connects orthopedic surgeons and medical professionals to their patients from the time surgery is scheduled through post-op care. Providers set up video-based education and exercise care plans in Force to guide patients through their upcoming surgery and recovery. Patients can log into the platform and move through video-guided physical therapy exercises either in their browser or through an app. They can access information about their care on-demand and ask any questions they have, all from the comfort of their homes. As patients move through treatment, they enter data and submit outcomes forms through Force, which give providers insight into patient progress on both an individual and collective level.

The Market

Based on research showing that patients recover best when at home and that this can be facilitated by mobile applications (JMIR), Force Therapeutics is helping to speed up safe discharge after surgery. They have created a platform that allows providers to put the patient experience first. Force’s CEO, Bronwyn Spira, is a clinician and physical therapist who wanted to ensure that her patients’ were making consistent progress between appointments. Based on that requirement, she began to develop Force as a way for patients and their providers to easily and frequently share information during recovery from an injury or surgery.

Why is it innovative?

When asked why Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute chose to implement Force Therapeutics, CJRI’s Chief Clinical Officer, John Grady Benson MD said, “We live in a digital age and medicine is stuck in a geographical space. We need to be able to exchange information in a meaningful way. What Force allows us to do is keep track of you, in an intimate way” (Force). Force uses video content to properly instruct patients remotely through “virtual rehab” and has a messaging platform for patients to ask questions in real time.  It also gives providers and researchers access to data about the patient journey, which Force hopes can be used to drive research and evidence-based care.

Mission

“Force Therapeutics has set out to reimagine the way patients recover from injury and surgery by using the power of patient engagement to drive data collection for care redesign and patient outcome improvement.”

In her own words, Spira states “Force Therapeutics’ mission has always been to maximize the impact that physical therapy and education can have on patients’ recovery. The challenge has been to do this without losing the personal touch that I believe must be a part of every healthcare interaction” (Redox).

Advantages

• Patients can spend more recovery time at home instead of in the hospital or going to the doctor’s office.
• Patients can use the app to easily access information through curated videos and quickly ask questions about their recovery without waiting for an appointment.
• Providers can better understand the patient experience.
• Researchers can gather critical data to drive change in care standards.

Disadvantages

• Patients must receive care at health system that has implemented Force Therapeutics in order to use the platform.

Funding (Crunchbase)

Total $27.5 M

• November  2018 $21 M, Insight Partners
• July 2017 $2.5 M 
• February 2015 $ 2.2 M

Facts Sheet and Details (Crunchbase)

• Founder and CEO: Bronwyn Spira
• Date Founded: 2010
• Funding Status: Venture
• Status: Privately Held
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: (877) 806-6686
• Address: 29 E 19th St 7th Floor, New York, NY 10003 (Bloomberg)
• Website: https://www.forcetherapeutics.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForceTherapeutics
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FORCETherEx
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/force-therapeutics

News Stories on Force

• Badass Women in Health Tech: Bronwyn Spira, Founder & CEO of FORCE Therapeutics

• Force Therapeutics Announces $21M Investment Led by Insight Venture Partners to Accelerate Growth of its Digital Care Management Platform

• Geisinger cuts inpatient rehab utilization by half for hip, knee surgery patients