Kaia Health is pioneering the field of digital therapeutics with its AI-driven solution for musculoskeletal pain. By leveraging computer vision technology, Kaia provides immediate access to PT-grade exercise therapy through a smartphone app. This innovative approach aims to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes.
You can view the full video interview here:
Key Takeaways
- Kaia Health offers a groundbreaking digital therapeutic for musculoskeletal pain using AI technology.
- Patients can access PT-grade exercise therapy through a smartphone app, providing immediate care.
- The technology reduces healthcare costs by 80% and decreases stress, anxiety, and depression.
- Kaia Health integrates seamlessly with existing health systems and providers, enhancing patient care and accessibility.
Introduction to Kaia Health: A Conversation with Warner Roberts at thINc360
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“I’m Mabel Jong, thanks for joining us. I’m here now with Warner Roberts, who is Senior Vice President at Kaia Health. Welcome.”
Warner Roberts:
“Thank you. Great to meet you.”
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“Let’s talk a little bit about the basics of what Kaia Health does.”
Warner Roberts:
“Okay, so Kaia is the first and only digital therapeutic based on AI technology for musculoskeletal pain. When you think about MSK pain, pain can happen anywhere. People need that access to care, and our technology delivers access immediately through your own phone and device.”
How Kaia Health’s AI Technology Transforms Patient Care
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“Oh, wow. Okay, so what would a patient with MSK pain experience on their phone?”
Warner Roberts:
“Yeah, so the first thing is the AI technology, specifically computer vision technology. The camera on your phone basically turns into that computer vision technology and can assess and look at the body and the correct movement of the individual.
So if an individual is in pain and they need immediate access to care, within 10 minutes they can go through the app, do an onboarding, and then have access to PT-grade exercise therapy.”
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“Okay, and so given that this is really dependent upon the patient really engaging with the app, what sort of outcomes are you seeing?”
Warner Roberts:
“You think about MSK pain in general. We’re expected to surpass 300 billion dollars in costs this year. When you think about the access to care and the lack of access to care, the lack of physical therapists, and all the other barriers to care, we’re seeing one in two individuals that actually have an MSK condition.
Of those one in two individuals, less than 10 percent are actually seeking the care that they need. Take that a step lower: less than 10 percent seeking the care out of one in two, 300 billion dollars in cost, and 70 percent of those don’t make it all the way through care for whatever the reason is.
In some cases, it’s getting to a physician, getting to a provider, finding a provider. Our technology breaks that down, gives them immediate access to care, and what we’ve found is a reduction in stress, anxiety, depression, and an overall 80 percent lower cost of care for the individuals engaging in digital care.”
Complementing Existing Care Systems with Kaia Health’s Technology
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“How do you see it complementing what already exists in the care system?”
Warner Roberts:
“So what we found in the market, and I’ve been with Kaia just over a year, is that there’s a lot of MSK solutions out there that are trying to do everything. They’re trying to be the complete end-to-end MSK solution.
What we’ve found is we are the most innovative solution in the market and we have a niche when it comes to the technology. So how do we match that technology with the other technologies that are already out there that are top of the line? What we’ve found is we’ve integrated with some of the greatest solutions out there as far as health systems, payers, and finding second opinion services, finding centers of excellence.
Instead of us being the solution end-to-end, we are becoming more of a navigation solution, really meeting the patient where they need to be specific to their needs.”
Getting Started with Kaia Health
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“If a patient wanted to be involved with Kaia, what’s the first step?”
Warner Roberts:
“Depending on our partnerships, we have several partnerships out there. As I mentioned, we’re payer-agnostic, provider-agnostic, employer-agnostic.
So depending on who the primary source of Kaia is and where our integration is, it could be a couple of different doors. I always like to say everyone’s fighting for that front door.
My best example is that United Healthcare is one of our primary partnerships, and a member could go to myuhc.com to find and price care just like they would for any other level of care, and Kaia would surface as a primary provider.”
Spreading the Message at thINc360
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“Oh, all right. Okay, why come to Think 360 to spread this message? Who are you hoping to reach here?”
Warner Roberts:
“The technology that we have, I think, has endless use cases. As I mentioned, we’ve got payer providers, we’ve got several different partnerships, and then we have several partnerships that we’d like to have.
I think the innovation that is in the room out there really helps spark conversation and drive that digital age forward. COVID has accelerated it a little bit, but we’re still jumping through a lot of regulatory hurdles to get digital therapeutics recognized as a remote patient monitoring opportunity.”
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“And are you hoping that those kinds of partnerships exist in meetings like Think 360?”
Warner Roberts:
“I believe they do. With Kaia being the first and only digital MSK solution with program validation from the Validation Institute, I think that sets us apart from what we can provide and help those value-based systems move faster.”
You may also like: Kaia Health – Validated Program Report
Host Mabel Jong – thINc360:
“Warner, thank you so much for your time.”
