Can't Use It Well... Difficult Physical Therapy Now at Home with DTx

Digital Solution for Musculoskeletal Disorders 'Mora'
Interview with Yoon Chan, CEO of EverX

Exercise Therapy Has Not Been Properly Implemented So Far
Lowering Costs and Increasing Accessibility with DTx

Yoon Chan, CEO of EverX, is giving an interview with Asia Economy.

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] As I moved my body while keeping the smartphone camera on, virtual dots quickly attached to my body. When I raised my arm, the dots moved following the motion, and a message appeared on the application (app) screen indicating that the functional evaluation was completed. Then, when I played the video, a guide video played again, allowing me to easily follow the rehabilitation exercises.

EverX's digital therapeutic solution 'MORA' provides a rehabilitation and exercise therapy curriculum specialized for musculoskeletal disorders. It allows patients to carry out the exercise therapy program prescribed by doctors at home as much as they want. Functional evaluation confirms the accuracy of the treatment, and medical staff can monitor all related data.

Yoon Chan, CEO of EverX, whom we met on the 18th, said that as an orthopedic specialist who has worked for over 10 years, he often felt frustrated when meeting patients. He pointed out, "Rehabilitation and exercise therapy are important in treating musculoskeletal disorders, but there are many limitations in actual practice." The limitations Yoon identified are time, cost, and information. While it is best to visit in person and receive treatment from specialized medical personnel or physical therapists, it is not easy for patients to visit every time, and from the hospital's perspective, "the exercise therapy fee set for about 30 minutes of exercise therapy is less than 10,000 won," making it difficult in the actual treatment environment.

Demonstration screen of EverX's musculoskeletal treatment digital therapy solution 'MORA' (Photo by EverX)

CEO Yoon said, "The biggest advantage of digital therapeutics (DTx) is lowering costs and increasing patient accessibility," and he believes this can be overcome through DTx. Starting with patellofemoral pain syndrome, they are preparing indications for chronic low back pain and anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Patellofemoral pain syndrome has already received clinical approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and plans to start clinical trials at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital.

The criterion for selecting indications is the large number of patients. CEO Yoon said, "Patellofemoral pain syndrome is a very common disease," adding, "Its prevalence is known to be 20-30%." According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service's healthcare big data, 110,000 people received treatment in just one year last year. Chronic low back pain affects 5.43 million people, and knee disorders reach 760,000, indicating a broad market. CEO Yoon also shared a vision to cover all orthopedic disorders related to exercise therapy through MORA in the long term. Since medical evidence for most treatments has already been secured, the strategy is to continue expanding the market based on this.

One of the main evaluation indicators of DTx is adherence. Since patients perform treatment at home without medical staff intervention, the treatment effect depends on how diligently they follow it. CEO Yoon said, "In beta testing, treatment adherence was 74%," adding, "This was the result of patients performing the therapy themselves every day for 30 minutes over a month without any alarm or push notifications." Although this adherence rate may not seem very high at first glance, it shows sufficient potential since it was achieved without any intervention. He also added, "In the DTx version, we are preparing to add notification functions by setting time alerts."

EverX logo (Photo by EverX)

CEO Yoon emphasized that to enter the DTx market, the convenience for doctors must be improved. He said, "According to overseas surveys, the percentage of medical staff using digital health tools increased only from 2.2% in 2015 to 3.8% in 2022 over seven years, a 1.6 percentage point increase," adding, "Meanwhile, 70-80% expressed a desire to use digital healthcare tools." Many doctors cited "unfamiliarity with the work environment" as the reason. This is also why EverX is focusing on optimizing MOUs, such as signing an MOU with electronic medical record (EMR) provider EasyCareTech. CEO Yoon said, "How well the digital therapeutic solution integrates into the work environment is a key factor in deciding its use," adding, "Even opening one more website is a big usability barrier, so we will proceed with EMR integration through collaboration."

EverX recently joined the Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA) to build its network and is also exploring overseas expansion, including the United States. CEO Yoon said, "We have established a U.S. corporation and plan to supply MORA to medical institutions around January to February next year," adding, "Especially in the U.S., since December last year, a remote monitoring fee for musculoskeletal disorders has been introduced, and we will utilize this to supply MORA."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.