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Realizing a Vision for Human-Led Digital Care: Bringing MSK Care Into The Omada Family of Programs

Today, Omada announced the acquisition of Physera, adding digital musculoskeletal (MSK) care and video visit access to a nationwide network of licensed physical therapists to our portfolio of offerings. Physera has already established a reputation as the most clinically-focused, human-centered MSK solution in the space. Our combined capabilities now make Omada Health the most comprehensive version of whole-person digital care anywhere in the market. 

Our employer and health plan partners have told us they want a single, clinically-validated solution that addresses their top healthcare needs. By bringing Physera’s MSK care into the Omada portfolio, we are now the one-stop partner for employers and health plans across the country. 

But even more important than our combined capabilities is our philosophical alignment. Like Omada, Physera has based their approach to MSK care by building technology to support an accessible, human-led digital care model at scale. Through the Physera Physical Therapy Group, they’ve assembled a coast-to-coast roster of exceptional licensed physical therapy specialists who, empowered by technology, deliver personalized care pathways for their users with a wide range of joint mobility issues. 

Sound familiar? It’s a mirror image of the model that Omada has deployed across our chronic care and mental health programs, utilizing qualified coaches and licensed specialists empowered by our proprietary technology and coaching platform. Those coaches are directed to the participants with whom they can have the greatest impact, armed with insights generated from data provided by the participant herself, and the foundation of trust and personal knowledge developed over the relationship. 

Both of our companies have thrived because of an unshakeable belief that even when care moves online, it must retain its human face and human touch. In an era when far too many have sought to use technology to obscure or eliminate the need for a personal relationship between provider and patient, Omada and Physera know -- and have demonstrated - that human connection matters in digital health. 

It’s why years ago, we suggested in-person care should be Option B for a majority of care needs. A digital-first approach that retains the most human elements of care can be more personalized, accessible, and create better value. Dan has described Physera as “taking the parts of physical therapy that work well, and fixing the parts that are broken.” 

Accessibility issues laid bare by the pandemic over the last several months have made this imperative more urgent than ever. There’s been a rapid embrace of telehealth and technology-enabled care that for too long was considered niche or supplemental. In March and April, physical activity declined by 48 percent nationwide. Physical therapy clinics across the country have experienced shutdowns and cancelations as patients seek to minimize the risk of covid transmission. More than half of those with type 2 diabetes have skipped some type of care due to inaccessibility or fear of contracting Covid-19. Fifty-two percent of people with chronic pain have missed at least one appointment. We believe that the way people access their care has been irrevocably changed, with implications that will last far beyond the current crisis.

As we add Physera’s MSK care expertise to the Omada portfolio, we’re more equipped than ever in our mission to change care delivery.  This mission now becomes a shared mission with the Physera team, and our joint capabilities allow our employer and health plan partners to best support their employees and members during times where access to digital care is not optional, but compulsory. The last several months have accelerated the migration to digital care. Today’s announcement brings us closer than ever to the vision that has been the driving force behind both of our companies, and we look forward to being able to address the needs of more people with the broadest offering of best-in-class digital health solutions.