Meet US-Based Dr. Reuben Gobezie, co-founder of Genie Health
Transforming post-surgery recovery and healthcare efficiency through tech-enabled services
Dr. Reuben Gobezie, co-founder and CEO of Genie Health, is at the forefront of a digital health revolution, leveraging cutting-edge technology to transform post-surgical recovery and improve overall healthcare efficiency. During his recent trip to South Africa, we sat down with the good doctor to get his take on hybrid healthcare and what it could mean for the continent.
Dr Reuben Gobezie, born in Ethiopia and raised in the USA, is a pioneer in the world of shoulder surgery, particularly shoulder replacements. Whereas most surgeons will do say 400 surgeries in a year, Gobezie will perform several thousand. However, it is not the sheer number of operations he performs that has us sitting up and taking notice, but the fact that this was not enough to satisfy his quest to improve healthcare, which then led him to developing a digital intervention that assists patients in post-surgical recovery, and even avoiding the knife where appropriate in the first place.
Whilst this might be counter-intuitive to most surgeons whose entire careers are predicated on operating, Gobezie’s altruistic and patient-centric outlook ensures that overburdened healthcare systems focus on treating the patients who need them most.
His remarkable journey from surgeon to health-tech innovator began under the mentorship of a leading specialist in shoulder surgery in France, a training that significantly influenced his approach to patient care.
Dr. Gobezie’s experience highlighted the intense trust patients place in their surgeons. “When you cut somebody, it’s a very intense personal relationship. The person is trusting that we’re gonna let you make them unconscious,” he explains. However, he found a major flaw in the standard outcomes reporting, which typically required a two-year wait before presenting results. This delay left a significant gap in understanding patient recovery in the interim, since there was little to no interaction between surgeon and patient during this period of recovery.
Determined to bridge this gap, Dr. Gobezie initially developed a user research tool utilising wearable technology to monitor and analyse recovery in real-time – PT Genie. This innovation aimed to provide a standardised approach to post-surgery recovery, addressing the inconsistencies patients often encountered.
In 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the U.S. initiated a push for digital health transformation to reduce healthcare costs and improve access. This policy shift aligned perfectly with Dr. Gobezie’s wearable technology. However, initial adoption was slow due to the complex integration of digital solutions into traditional workflows.
By 2022, though, CMS had updated its policies to include allied staff, such as Physical Therapists and Physical Therapy Assistants, in utilising and billing for digital health services. This update was crucial for what is today, Genie Health’s successful growth.
Genie Health’s platform now enables providers to offer efficient, cost-effective care through virtual check-ins and mobile-phone technology, significantly reducing the need for frequent in-person visits.
Having been successful in the U.S., South Africa has now become a key focus for Genie Health’s initiatives. Partnering initially with Discovery Health, Genie Health addresses similar healthcare challenges in the region. “The parallels between the U.S. and South African healthcare systems are striking, particularly in cost escalation and access issues,” Dr. Gobezie notes.
The Genie Health platform offers patients access to virtual physical therapy programmes, providing comprehensive therapy at a fraction of the cost of traditional in-person visits. This model offers higher therapy doses, measurable outcomes, and enhanced accessibility, making it an attractive option for patients.
The convenience factor for patients to perform their exercises goes without saying and has seen an increase in the number of patients who not only perform their exercises regularly, but complete their programmes, which is not always the case when compared to infrequent in-person consultations.
With universal healthcare a hot topic in South Africa now, Deon Bührs, who heads up Genie Health in South Africa, is on record as saying that digital platforms like Gobezie’s innovation, are what the NHI needs to ensure that even those in remote areas can access recovery and rehabilitative care. He says: “unlocking technology as the new delivery channel of healthcare complimented by affordable and fast internet, could well be the solution to cracking the code of ‘healthcare for all’.
Through technology we can drive the patient-centric approach to health and open the door for patients to more easily access the multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals they need. In fact, we need to renew our focus on the key stakeholder, our patients – and empower them to drive their own health by using technology as the backbone for sustainable health.”
Dr. Gobezie’s ultimate vision for Genie Health is to transform rehabilitation services globally. By offering tech-enabled services, Genie Health aims to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs, addressing both immediate recovery needs and long-term health management.
As healthcare systems worldwide face sustainability challenges, Genie Health’s innovative approach and platform exemplify the potential of digital health to revolutionise care. By leveraging technology, efficiency, effectiveness, and accessibility are enhanced, ensuring healthcare remains both affordable and high-quality – for all.
