AI in physical therapy to drive 2X ROI: how it works
As a healthcare professional, you know how efficient physical therapy can be in helping the patient to recover. You’ve seen the difference it makes – when patients can actually follow through the program.
But the reality is, many of your patients simply can’t.
Busy schedules, transportation issues, and other common barriers often keep them from attending sessions. The programs might meet their needs, but they will struggle to stick with it.
What if there was a way to extend your care beyond the four walls? Read about AI in physiotherapy below.
The problem with traditional physiotherapy methods
Physical therapy is an essential element of dealing with different-scale musculoskeletal conditions and injuries. It has always previously been done in person or through passive guidance by using handwritten instructions and videos, as well as markers and sensors for the initial assessment.
The issues with old-school physiotherapy methods:
The assessment is hit-or-miss
Two therapists might give you two different opinions, simply because manual assessments aren’t objective. This means missed details and, what’s even worse, incorrect diagnosis and treatment.
Too focused on symptoms, not the root cause
The therapist usually targets immediate symptoms (knee ache, back stiffness) without addressing the cause. This approach, lacking deeper movement analysis, can cause recurring problems and even more discomfort, whilst applying pose detection can help to identify and address root causes, not just surface-level symptoms.
Minimum attention, rushed recovery
The tight insurance limits and packed clinic schedules often result in patients only getting minimum attention. And not being sufficient for full, long-term recovery, these scant, rushed recovery leaves patients dealing alone with their health issues.
Low engagement – some patients just quit
A personal home program is essential for recovery, but let’s face it – the patients will struggle with adherence. They might simply forget or question how exercises are performed – and if they’re unsure about themselves, why would they continue?
The power of digital physiotherapy sessions
The magic of digitizing physiotherapy programs:
| Traditional therapy | Digital therapy | |
| Objectivity | Can vary between therapists, thus causing inconsistent diagnoses and treatments | Pose detection is offering data-backed evaluations that catch subtle deviations every time |
| Accuracy | Often zeroes in on surface symptoms without digging deeper into the issue | Pose estimation can spot underlying contributors, so that you treat the problem, not just the ache |
| Continuity | May leave the patient without support before achieving long-term recovery | Ongoing monitoring is keeping progress steady, extending support without waiting for appointments |
| Personalization | Doesn’t provide any guidance apart from handwritten instructions and, sometimes, pre-recorded videos | Real-time feedback is helping the patient to stay on track by eliminating the frustration of doubt |
AI for physical therapy: business benefits
Save costs every session
- A national counterfactual simulation found that patient-initiated virtual physical therapy yields mean $1,116–$1,523 savings per person per year
- These are mainly driven by earlier medical access (35% savings) and lower episode costs (33% savings)
- That’s a 2.0× ROI when considering medical savings
- In a cost comparison, hypothetical virtual physical therapy programs charge $600 annually (including a $200 evaluation), versus substantial $998–$1,256 in annual expenditures for face-to-face medical care
Save valuable clinical time
The therapist is no longer hostage:
- An economic systematic review found that at-home accessible physical therapy consistently required 10–30% fewer in-person consultations than traditional, at-office approaches
- With an average meeting lasting about 1 hour, the savings are roughly 0.8–2.0 hours per patient
AI for physical therapists: work smarter, not harder
Data consistency
Forget the daily struggle, get routine data collection, storage, analysis, and visualization done automatically. You get your records, but without the workload.
Measurable results
Every rep, every angle, every shift and deviation is logged with precision – no more vague notes or guesswork. You enjoy an explicit, uniform record every session, whether it’s Monday morning or already Friday afternoon.
Easy scaling
Your solution works everywhere – web, mobile, both in-clinic and at-home – without integrations or retooling. This means seamless adaptability without endless, expensive projects.
Custom alerts for doctors
A patient skipping exercises or showing unusual patterns – instant heads-up before setbacks create problems. Never miss something again.
AI for physiotherapy optimization: key features
Pose detection
Just integrate pose estimation into the existing platform to leverage real-time capture of joints and patterns. No additional, bulky equipment – just instant, pixel-perfect insights.
Activity and motion recognition
Activity and motion tracking – the answer to identifying and classifying performed exercises and movements. Whether squatting or lunges, everything off-protocol is flagged.
Smart feedback
Textual and voice guidance – “keep the back straight”, “bend deeper” – to help the patient quickly self-correct. The posture stays correct and progress on course.
Progress Tracking
One-click access to dashboards that visualize key trends – the range of motion, the mobility of gait, and more. Notice plateaus, mark success, and, what’s most important, empower patients to regain their independence.
AI and physiotherapy applications
| Data-backed diagnosis and treatment | – Baseline assessment – Severity assessment – Motion and gait analysis – Pattern and deviation detection – Comparative analytics – Decision support |
| Targeted assessment | – Health assessment for students – Mobily screening for impaired – Injury prevention for athletes – Fall prevention for elderly |
| Remote therapy | – Personalized programs – Assisted sessions – Adherence and progress tracking – Custom notifications |
| Supported recovery | – Musculoskeletal rehabilitation – Neurological rehabilitation – Pediatric rehabilitation – Geriatric rehabilitation – Vestibular/balance rehabilitation – Cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation |
How we can help
It’s easy to see why digital physical therapy is one of the most exciting AI applications in the healthcare domain. And surely, it will only get more sought-after.
Abto Software, a provider with vast healthcare expertise, is the go-to partner for digitizing existing platforms.
Our expertise:
Our services:
FAQ
The latest physical therapy market reports speak volumes:
- In the United States, the overall physical therapy market size has reached $47.59 billion in 2024
- Steady growing at a 4.60% CAGR from 2025 to 2030, it’s expected to reach $61.70 billion
Now imagine going beyond your conventional physical therapy and attracting more clients through innovation.
An older physical therapy accessibility survey has shown that traveling was among the most critical barriers:
- Those patients in average-income rural areas must travel significantly further, on average adding about 8.2 miles (11.1 minutes) more than urban patients just per one session
- Even worse, those patients in low-income rural areas are traveling 6.2 miles and over 13 minutes longer than higher-income counterparts
And though the study was done in 2017, it’s safe to say that this particular problem remains among the biggest.
- Data consistency
- Easy documentation and reporting
- Objective diagnosis
- Efficient treatment
- Patient satisfaction and loyalty
- Employee unloading and relief
You get the picture.
The future is pointing to smarter, proactive sessions – the technology will assist in preventing serious injuries.
At the same moment, the technology will take over routines – scheduling, documentation, patient monitoring. And with more hours, the therapists will have more resources to focus on their top priority – patient wellbeing.