During the last few decades, the physical therapy profession greatly evolved. We now have access to advanced technology to assist with our patients’ rehabilitation. That being said, isn’t it a bit ironic that my most efficient rehabilitation technique uses the most rudimentary pieces of equipment of all: a pen and paper? You see, I prescribe exercises to my patients on a daily basis, which they have to perform at home prior to our next appointment back at the clinic.

 

For me, this is still the most efficient, long-lasting and least invasive method leading to true rehabilitation, for a large number of pathologies. However, until recently, I would always use a pen and paper to prescribe these exercises. At this age of mobile apps, fitness trackers and virtual reality, there had to be something better out there. That’s when I started using my iPhone camera to film my patients as they were executing their exercises in front of me. This solved some of my problems, while creating new ones: How to send out multiple exercises at once, without “blowing up” my patient’s inbox? Is it even legal for me to store videos of my patient on my personal device? How can I make sure that my personal inbox doesn’t get swarmed by questions from patients? The answer to all that was found by a good friend of mine, through a brand new App called Phydeo.

 

 

Phydeo - Exercice Prescription App from TotalCoaching on Vimeo.   Phydeo is an incredibly simple iOS and Android app. Imagine, even I was able to figure it out on my first visit ☺. Basically, it does exactly what my iPhone camera does, while removing the last drawbacks I had. I film my patient while he is executing his exercise, then I enter his email address. Everything is done in only a few seconds. My patient then receives a simple email (no large attachments), giving him access to his exercise in a nice-looking page, customized with my clinic’s logo and colors.

 

Personally, there are two main points that convinced me to use it: the speed at which I can send absolutely any exercise, and the professional corporate image I can reflect. There’s also the legal aspect of the application (videos are removed automatically from my personal device), which wasn’t a crucial factor for me as a buyer but may be for someone else. For those of you who are interested, Phydeo is available for free on the App Store and Android Play Store. I went for the Premium version at a price of 9$ per month, which removes all advertisements.

 

Here are a few links for the app: Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phydeo.android iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phydeo/id924945824?l=fr&ls=1&mt=8 Phydeo in action: https://vimeo.com/107609288 Phydeo on the web: www.phydeo.com Phydeo on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phydeoapp Phydeo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhydeoApp