Enhanced Spinal Conservative Care Pilot Programme: 2.02MR
Welcome back!
Following your previous online assessment with one of our physiotherapists, to determine the level of care you require, we are pleased that Discovery has communicated with you that you qualify for a fully funded benefit for the Enhanced Spinal Conservative Care Pilot Programme, delivered through the Genie Health Virtual Platform. Our team of expertly trained physiotherapists and biokineticists are on the ready to support you through your recovery process. They will be empowered by the advanced, but easy to use Genie app and software systems.
It is with this proven virtual care approach, that we are excited to be part of the Discovery Conservative Spine Care Programme in improving the lives of patients suffering from spine pain. Spinal pain is one of the most prevalent medical complaints across all Discovery Health Administered medical schemes, accounting for costs exceeding R2 billion per annum. Appropriate out-of-hospital conservative management of back pain has proven to deliver good outcomes and may prevent the need for surgery.
Research shows that Virtual Physiotherapy is equally as effective as in person Physiotherapy. Furthermore, by empowering you along your road to recovery, rehabilitation can take place in the comfort of your own home environment, reducing your dependency on in-person visits to your healthcare provider. Our team will of course advise as and where there might be a need to seek in person healthcare.
So next steps: Book your final onboarding call below – not to worry, this is a shorter session, where the onbaording specialist will ensure you are set up on the Genie Health app so that you can get your exercises and communicate directly with your healthcare provider. You will also be booked in with your physio, who will do a further assessment, deploy your programme and get you going.
Frequently asked Questions
What options are available?
Option 1 – Virtual Care programme with Genie Health SA – FULLY FUNDED BENEFIT
- Access to a 10-week personalised and comprehensive multidisciplinary programme, delivered virtually, via cutting-edge technology by Genie Health SA’s team of highly trained clinicians. Our team will remotely assess and monitor you through-out the programme, adjusting as and when needed, all from the comfort of your own home.
Option 2 – In-person care – DAY-TO-DAY BENEFITS APPLY
- You may choose to continue in person care for your spine care. This will however not be a covered benefit but could be paid from your own pocket or Medical Savings Account. Please contact your healthcare provider directly.
What can I expect from the physio sessions?
The online physiotherapy consultation is up to 40 minutes long. The physiotherapist will assess your condition through questioning and evaluating movements using our secure in-app video feature. She will also validate if the programme is the right fit for you, and if so, you will get:
- Daily exercises and tasks as part of a home exercise programme within the Genie App
- Educational resources to view
- Outcome measures to answer
Who is going to be taking care of me?
Our highly skilled clinicians are made up of physiotherapists and biokineticists that have had post graduate training in the management of pain and spine pain recovery.
Communicating with the care team
You can at any time securely message your care team, and they will get back to you. The care team will also have live video telehealth calls with you to review your daily progress. The team will quickly (reactively and pro-actively) respond to any issues they see coming from your metrics (pain scores, range of motion, compliance to the programme, questions and answers on surveys).
The follow-up video telehealth physio calls are very focused, as the physio will have all of your required data at their fingertips. They will correct issues they see, introduce new concepts into your programme and tell you about major considerations based on the phase of recovery you are in. You will get regular physio video calls based on your progress and phase of recovery. There may be interim video calls with the clinical team if they see something that needs correcting before your next official telehealth physio call.
How long is the programme
The Virtual Care programme is a 10-week personalised and comprehensive multidisciplinary programme, that is ideally positioned to empower you in your recovery journey. It is a dynamic programme, being adjusted based on your progress and response to treatment.
Click here to take a look at how our sophisticated AI empowered technology uses your phone / tablet camera to support you with your recovery:
Do I need to be “tech savvy” to use this?
Nope, you do not need to be tech savvy to use this programme. We have designed the programme to be easy to use, even if you have never used a smartphone or tablet before. Our general users include many older patients, who manage well.
What you do need to be sure of is that you have access to good Wi-Fi or cellphone service, and a fairly modern smart device (tablet or cellphone – preferably not more than five years old, and that it can run apps from the Google Play Store or the Apple iStore.