A specialty EHR that operates in isolation does not just create inefficiency. It creates risk — and the people closest to the patient are the ones absorbing it.

Why It Matters

Fragmentation is one of healthcare’s most persistent technology problems. A January 2026 survey by Net Health and Becker’s Healthcare found that 40% of health system leaders identified integration with existing enterprise systems as a top barrier to specialty technology adoption. Those leaders are not describing a technical inconvenience. They are describing a structural gap that determines whether clinical context moves with the patient or gets left behind at the specialty department door.

A 2025 scoping review published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice by Olakotan et al., analyzing 28 studies across clinical settings, noted that clinicians spend an estimated one-third to one-half of their workday interacting with EHR systems, with limited interoperability cited alongside poor usability and misaligned workflows as a core driver of that burden. The review found that difficulty finding health information exchange tools within existing clinical workflows led to inefficiencies, with clinicians spending additional time searching for information and deviating from their standard workflow, compounding the documentation load that already cuts into patient-facing time.

The problem deepens when specialty data remains walled off from the primary record. A January 2025 comprehensive review published in JMIR by Shen et al., examining 25 years of EHR research, noted that patient data is commonly dispersed across primary care and specialty platforms, and that linking those fragmented sources into a complete clinical picture is both challenging and essential for effective care management and research. For specialty practices, that fragmentation is not a data governance problem in the abstract. It is a daily clinical reality.

Prepare for the Future

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s Cures Act Final Rule now requires health IT vendors — including specialty EHR developers — to share data openly and stop blocking the flow of patient information. For health system administrators evaluating or renewing specialty technology contracts, that means connectivity is no longer something to negotiate for. It is a baseline legal requirement, and any vendor that cannot meet it is not a viable option. Meeting that requirement, however, is not the same as solving the problem. The work ahead is building interoperability that actually functions in clinical practice.

A system that can technically transmit data is not the same as one that puts the right information in front of the right clinician at the right time. Real interoperability means a patient’s history is visible before the specialty visit, updates flow back to the primary care team after it, and clinicians spend less time hunting across systems — not more. A connection that only works in one direction is not integration. It is a one-way export that leaves the downstream clinician to piece together the rest.

When evaluating specialty technology, administrators should ask vendors to demonstrate that data flows both ways against the federal standard for shareable patient data, to show how the system handles referral context and post-visit updates, and to explain specifically how their platform reduces — rather than adds to — the navigation burden clinicians already carry.

Connection to Net Health

Net Health designs its specialty EHRs around a single principle: clinicians should be fully present with their patients, not managing the gaps between systems. Grounded in more than 30 years of deep specialty expertise, Net Health’s platforms across rehab therapy, wound care, long-term care, and occupational medicine are built to connect the care continuum seamlessly — enabling referral context, medication history, and care plan updates to follow the patient without manual re-entry at each care setting. For health systems working to modernize care delivery, interoperability is not a feature. It is what makes specialty data clinically useful at the moments that matter.

Why It Matters

The shift from aspiration to accountability is well underway. A January 2026 survey by Net Health and Becker’s Healthcare found that health system leaders have entered a more evaluative phase with AI, assessing real-world performance based on clinical accuracy and financial outcomes rather than potential. Among those surveyed, 48% said that integrating AI into specialty electronic health record (EHR) platforms to improve clinical accuracy and financial resilience was a valuable benefit. But value, in this context, means demonstrated, measurable impact.

The clinical evidence is starting to align with that expectation. A pragmatic randomized controlled trial published in NEJM AI by Afshar et al. at the University of Wisconsin found that ambient AI deployed across ambulatory clinics produced a statistically significant reduction in work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement among health practitioners. However, no significant improvement in professional fulfillment — the study’s other co-primary outcome — was observed. Critically, documentation time decreased without compromising diagnostic coding, billing compliance, or note quality. Technology earns trust when it reduces the burden on the care team, not when it multiplies the outputs requiring review.

The Net Health-Becker’s data also reveals a clear preference for agentic AI over generative AI alone. Health leaders are less interested in AI that produces content and more interested in AI that completes work, accurately and reliably, within existing clinical systems. That preference reflects a practical orientation rooted in the reality of busy specialty care environments.

Prepare for the Future

For clinicians and administrators, the priority now is evaluation discipline. That means moving beyond tracking how many AI tools have been deployed and focusing instead on the metrics that reflect genuine value: staff time saved, documentation accuracy, compliance performance, and patient outcomes.

A 2024 perspective in NEJM AI by Longhurst et al. at UC San Diego Health called for a national network of AI implementation science centers, citing a significant disparity between the volume of AI research and the scarcity of real-world clinical evidence. Health systems that want to realize AI’s full potential should establish pilot programs with defined outcome benchmarks before committing to broader rollouts, and clinical staff should be central to evaluation from the outset, not simply trained on systems after deployment decisions are made.

The Net Health-Becker’s survey found that 58% of health leaders expect a return on investment (ROI) from specialty technology within one to two years. That discipline should apply directly to AI investments. Organizations that hold vendors to outcome-based contracts, engage frontline clinicians in evaluation, and insist on seamless EHR integration will be better positioned to realize lasting value from AI, rather than absorbing a new layer of complexity. The standard has shifted: AI must earn its place in the clinical workflow through performance.

Connection to Net Health

Net Health’s approach to AI centers on embedded intelligence rather than standalone tools. Across specialty care settings, AI is integrated into clinical workflows at the point of care, working in the background to support documentation accuracy, compliance, and informed decision-making. The goal is not to replace clinical expertise but to strengthen it, giving clinicians and care teams the clarity and confidence to stay focused on what matters most: the patient in front of them. That is how technology earns trust across the care continuum.

Why It Matters

A June 2025 survey of 100 health system CFOs, finance VPs, and clinical technology leaders, conducted by Becker’s Healthcare in partnership with Net Health, shows where the pain is concentrated. Forty-one percent of respondents said payer reimbursement delays or denials are having a “very significant” impact on their organization’s financial health, with staffing and resource allocation ranking as the second-most-impacted operational area, just behind revenue cycle management itself.

The American Hospital Association’s 2026 “Costs of Caring” report puts a number on the scale of that problem. Hospitals spent $43 billion in 2025 trying to collect payments that insurers already owed for care delivered. The administrative work required to manage that burden — billing staff, coding teams, utilization management specialists, and appeals processors — consumed roughly 6.5% of total hospital employment in 2024, with the average hospital dedicating about 64 full-time positions to those functions.

That administrative drag compounds workforce strain in two ways. It redirects dollars away from clinical hiring and competitive wages. And it pulls clinicians into documentation work and peer-to-peer reviews, displacing direct patient care and accelerating burnout. Hospital workforce costs rose 5.6% in 2025, even as Medicare reimbursed hospitals at just 83 cents on the dollar in 2024, generating more than $100 billion in underpayments.

The denial environment compounds this further. Initial claim denial rates climbed to nearly 12% in 2024, a 2.4 percentage point increase year over year, according to data cited by the Healthcare Financial Management Association. A separate HFMA report found hospitals lose an average of 4.8% of net revenue to denials each year. And a 2024 Experian Health survey cited by HFMA found 73% of healthcare finance leaders report claims denials are increasing across payers, compared with just 42% who said the same in 2022.

When operating margins erode and administrative costs rise, organizations face difficult choices: freezing positions, restructuring teams, or scaling back services. Replacing a single registered nurse now costs hospitals an average of $61,110, according to the 2025 NSI National Health Care Retention and RN Staffing Report, as reported by Becker’s Hospital Review. Multiplied across a workforce under sustained strain, that figure represents one of the most human consequences of a broken reimbursement structure.

Prepare for the Future

The Net Health/Becker’s survey offers a clear signal about where leaders are turning. Respondents ranked revenue cycle management (RCM) tools as their top planned technology investment for 2025 and 2026, ahead of compliance monitoring tools and EHR upgrades. Nearly half (49%) also see AI and advanced analytics as a meaningful solution for cost efficiency and improved reimbursement ROI.

Adopting technology without addressing human factors will fall short, however. The same survey found that while staff adoption and training initially ranked fifth among top concerns, it emerged as the most significant overall concern when second and third-priority rankings were combined. Nearly 30% of respondents ranked it second, and 40% ranked it third.

For technology to deliver on its promise, it needs to be workflow-aware, explainable, and easy to use — functioning as a trusted assistant to clinical and operational staff rather than adding complexity to already demanding roles. The organizations seeing the most traction are embedding change management into implementation from the start, prioritizing tools that reduce documentation friction, and shifting to predictive analytics that surface denial risk before claims are submitted rather than after.

Financial sustainability and workforce wellbeing are also more connected than budget cycles tend to reflect. When administrative burden falls, clinicians reclaim time for direct patient care. When reimbursement becomes more reliable, margins stabilize, and organizations can invest in the staffing levels and wages that retain experienced people. In healthcare, technology that truly serves the organization must ultimately serve the person delivering care.

Connection to Net Health

Addressing the compounding pressures of reimbursement complexity and workforce strain requires solutions designed with both clinical and operational realities in mind. Net Health builds EHR software and predictive analytics tools for specialties including rehab therapy, wound care, occupational health, and long-term care, with a focus on streamlining documentation, supporting compliance, and protecting reimbursement accuracy. By embedding actionable insights directly into clinical and operational workflows, Net Health helps organizations capture appropriate revenue without placing additional burden on the clinicians. That is what it means to treat healthtech as humantech: building tools that protect the conditions caregivers need to focus on patients.

Why It Matters

Ask a rehab therapist what stands between them and better patient care, and the answer rarely involves clinical skill. It involves the chart.

According to Net Health’s Q1 2025 Source Report for Rehab Therapy — a survey of 200 U.S. rehab therapy professionals conducted in December 2024 — 80% of non-clinical rehab therapy workers reported being positive to very positive about the use of AI or ambient listening to support documentation. Even among clinicians, who have been far more cautious about AI broadly, just one-third remained neutral, with the majority expressing some degree of support.

That openness reflects a well-documented problem. A landmark study by Arndt et al., published in the Annals of Family Medicine, found that primary care physicians spend nearly two hours on EHR tasks for every hour of direct patient care. More recently, 2024 data from the American Medical Association found that 22.5% of physicians reported spending more than eight hours on EHR tasks outside normal work hours — up from 20.9% in 2023. For rehab therapists, whose work is inherently hands-on and session-intensive, splitting mental attention between a patient and a screen is not just inefficient. It erodes the human connection that makes therapy work.

Ambient AI tools address this strain directly. Rather than requiring clinicians to type or dictate notes after the fact, these systems passively capture clinician-patient conversations in real time and generate draft notes for review. The clinician stays present. The AI handles the transcription. What gets documented is the encounter — not a memory of it.

The clinical evidence is growing. A 2025 quality improvement study by Olson et al., published in JAMA Network Open, followed 263 physicians and advanced practice providers across six U.S. health systems and found that burnout dropped significantly — from 51.9% to 38.8% — after just 30 days using an ambient AI scribe. Cognitive load, after-hours documentation time, and the ability to give patients focused attention all improved meaningfully.

The impact at scale is equally striking. A follow-up analysis by Tierney et al., published in NEJM Catalyst, documented The Permanente Medical Group’s one-year rollout across more than 2.5 million patient encounters between October 2023 and December 2024. AI scribes produced an estimated 15,791 hours of documentation time savings — roughly 1,794 eight-hour workdays — compared with non-users. The clinician response was equally telling: in a survey of physicians who participated in The Permanente Medical Group study, 88% said the AI scribe had a positive impact on their interactions with patients during visits.

Prepare for the Future

For rehab therapy leaders, the data offers a clear signal — but also a caution. Ambient AI tools earn clinician buy-in precisely because they solve a problem clinicians feel every single day, without asking them to cede clinical judgment to an algorithm. The AI drafts; the clinician reviews, edits, and signs. That boundary matters, and leaders should be deliberate about reinforcing it in how these tools are introduced and governed.

Several practical steps can position organizations for successful adoption. First, involve frontline therapists early. Clinician skepticism about AI broadly does not extend to tools that visibly reduce their burden, but trust is built through transparency, not mandates. Pilot programs that let therapists experience the workflow before full deployment tend to yield stronger and more durable adoption. Second, establish clear documentation review protocols. Ambient AI notes require human oversight; building that expectation into standard workflow is not a limitation of the technology — it is a safeguard for patients and a protection for clinicians. Third, track outcomes that matter to the people using the tool: time saved per session, after-hours documentation volume, and self-reported burnout scores. These metrics connect technology investment to something clinicians actually care about.

The broader lesson for healthtech leaders is one that runs through nearly every successful AI implementation in clinical settings: technology alone is not enough. According to Net Health’s Rehab Therapy Source Report, staff adoption and training ranked as the top overall concern among rehab therapy professionals when considering AI in clinical workflows. That finding is a directive. The human side of implementation is not a footnote — it is the strategy.

Connection to Net Health

Net Health’s EHR and analytics solutions for rehab therapy are designed around the realities of clinical practice — where sessions are hands-on, documentation demands are high, and time with patients is the point. As ambient AI documentation tools move from novelty to standard of care, the ability to integrate them seamlessly into existing workflows will determine whether they deliver on their promise. Net Health’s commitment to understanding what rehab therapists actually experience — surfaced through research like the Net Health Rehab Therapy Source Report — positions the organization to help therapy practices make decisions that serve both clinical quality and the clinicians who deliver it.

Why It Matters

The shift is showing up clearly in the data. A January 2026 survey of 100 health system CIOs, clinical informatics managers, and other senior leaders conducted by Becker’s Healthcare and Net Health found that nearly half (47%) of organizations report established use of specialty technology platforms, and 43% are actively expanding their scope. Artificial intelligence is a significant driver of that expansion.

But the acceleration toward AI is running into real resistance. The same survey found that 49% of leaders cite data privacy and security concerns as a top challenge, 43% cite resistance to change, and 43% cite a lack of skilled personnel. Integration with existing enterprise systems was cited by 40%. Taken together, these findings reveal that the most persistent barriers to specialty tech adoption are organizational and human, rooted more in culture and capacity than in the technology itself.

That reality carries weight. The clinician who has to trust AI, use it, and ultimately be accountable for the decisions it informs is where adoption succeeds or stalls. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association reinforces this point: establishing trust in AI-based clinical decision support requires transparency, accountability, and design that centers on the clinician’s actual workflow.
ECRI, the global healthcare safety nonprofit, named insufficient governance of AI the second-highest patient safety concern for 2025, warning that medical errors generated by AI could compromise patient safety and lead to misdiagnoses and inappropriate treatment decisions. The message is direct: performance alone does not equal value. AI must earn its place at the point of care.

Prepare for the Future

For health system leaders, this moment calls for a deliberate, people-first approach to AI strategy. That work starts with moving governance from aspiration to daily operation. According to a survey of health system executives conducted by the Center for Connected Medicine at UPMC and KLAS Research, only 16% of health systems have a system-wide AI governance policy in place — a gap that leaves most organizations exposed. Forming multidisciplinary oversight committees, establishing clear validation and monitoring frameworks, and building feedback loops between clinical and operational teams are practical, achievable first steps.

Equally important is investing in change management alongside technology. The Becker’s Healthcare and Net Health survey found that 48% of leaders cite difficulty aligning clinical and administrative priorities as a top challenge. Staff training cannot be treated as a one-time onboarding event. It is an ongoing commitment to helping clinicians understand how AI works, when to trust its outputs, and when to question them.

The survey also found that leaders place greater value on agentic AI (33%) — the kind that handles task-based automation such as scheduling, coding, and workflow support — over generative AI alone (20%). That preference reflects practical wisdom. AI that removes friction from a clinician’s day is AI that gets adopted. When technology recedes into the background and allows the human relationship between clinician and patient to move to the foreground, that is what healthtech as humantech actually looks like.

Connection to Net Health

Net Health builds specialty EHR and analytics solutions with this balance in mind. Across rehab therapy, wound care, occupational health, and long-term care, its platforms are designed to work within existing clinical workflows rather than alongside them as separate tools. Net Health’s approach to embedded AI prioritizes documentation accuracy, compliance support, and operational efficiency — capabilities woven directly into daily workflows that give clinicians more time and cognitive space to focus on their patients. As health system leaders demand proof over promise, that commitment to workflow-aware, outcome-oriented technology reflects a clear belief: the best technology quietly empowers the people delivering care.

Why It Matters 

A January 2026 survey of 100 health system CIOs, clinical informatics managers, and chief medical officers, conducted by Becker’s Healthcare in partnership with Net Health, makes the current moment clear. Nearly half of respondents said that embedding AI into specialty EHR platforms is a meaningful benefit, and 43% of organizations are actively expanding the scope of their specialty technology adoption. That is not experimentation. That is a new baseline. 

What is shifting is which kind of AI leaders value most. When asked to compare generative AI and agentic AI, only 20% of respondents placed the greatest value on generative AI alone. A third ranked agentic AI higher, citing its ability to handle task-based automation such as scheduling, coding, and workflow support. Nearly half said both types are valuable. For specialty care settings, including rehab therapy, wound care, and occupational health, that distinction matters enormously. 

A physical therapist managing a high-volume caseload does not need AI that writes a better note after the fact. They need AI that anticipates the next step: flagging a patient whose functional scores suggest deterioration risk, prompting the right outcome measure at the right visit, or reducing the clicks between a clinical decision and the documentation that supports it. Agentic AI, when built into the workflow rather than bolted on top, does exactly that. Research published in Frontiers in Digital Health found that some agentic AI systems have reduced clinician cognitive workload by as much as 52% (Hinostroza Fuentes et al., 2025). That is time returned to the bedside, the exam table, and the treatment mat. 

Patient experience emerged as an equally strong signal in the Becker’s survey. Fifty-seven percent of leaders rated patient experience improvement as important or very important when evaluating specialty EHR investments, putting it on par with ease of enterprise integration. That framing reflects a broader truth: technology that does not reach the patient relationship has not finished its job. 

Prepare for the Future 

The Becker’s survey also surfaces the friction points that leaders need to address honestly. Forty-nine percent cite data privacy and security as a top adoption challenge. Forty-eight percent report difficulty aligning clinical and administrative priorities. And 43% point to resistance to change and skills gaps as barriers. 

These are not technology problems. They are organizational ones, and no AI platform resolves them on its own. 

Leaders preparing their specialty care environments for embedded AI should focus on three areas. First, governance before deployment. Establish clear policies on how AI recommendations are reviewed, audited, and acted on. Clinicians need to trust that the system has guardrails, not just capabilities. Second, alignment across teams. The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions’ 2026 U.S. Health Care Outlook found that over 80% of health care executives expect both agentic and generative AI to deliver moderate to significant value this year, but scaling beyond pilots requires clinical and operational leaders working from the same priorities (Deloitte, 2026). Third, change management as a clinical investment. Asking a wound care nurse or an occupational health clinician to adopt a new AI-assisted workflow without preparation is a shortcut that costs credibility. Training, feedback loops, and early wins matter. 

The organizations that will realize the greatest value are those that treat AI implementation as a people-centered process, not a technology deployment. 

Connection to Net Health 

Net Health builds EHR and analytics solutions specifically for rehab therapy, wound care, and occupational health, which puts it directly in the territory this survey describes. Its approach to embedded AI is designed to surface insights within the clinical workflows clinicians already use, rather than requiring them to seek out a separate tool. When 58% of survey respondents say patient engagement and outcomes represent the greatest potential for specialty tech innovation, that is the same outcome Net Health’s analytics are built to support: connecting clinical documentation to measurable patient progress in a way that is visible, actionable, and human. 

Why It Matters 

A November 2025 survey of 100 senior finance and technology leaders at large health systems, conducted by Net Health and Becker’s Healthcare, found that integration with existing systems was most frequently ranked as the top concern about using AI in clinical decision-making, cited by 21% of respondents. Staff adoption and training (20%) and cost and ROI (20%) followed closely. 

But the more telling finding comes from how respondents ranked their concerns overall. Nearly 30% placed staff adoption and training as their second-most significant concern, and 40% ranked it third. Across all positions combined, it was the single biggest barrier in the survey. 

That signal is worth sitting with. Clinicians are not broadly opposed to AI. What they are asking for is AI that fits how they actually work — tools that are explainable, easy to use, and embedded in the workflows they already navigate under pressure. When a new tool requires significant retraining or does not connect with existing infrastructure, it does not lighten the load. It adds to it. 

A 2025 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association by Eric G. Poon and colleagues, which surveyed 43 U.S. health systems, found that financial concerns were the second-most cited barrier to AI deployment, reported by 47% of respondents. That finding aligns closely with the Net Health/Becker’s data and reflects a real tension many organizations face: the pressure to modernize is high, but so is the uncertainty about whether the investment will pay off and when. 

For specialty care providers in rehab therapy, wound care, occupational health, and long-term care, these pressures are amplified. Clinicians in these settings are already managing heavy documentation requirements, staffing constraints, and layered compliance obligations. A new AI tool that requires time to learn or fails to communicate with the EHR is a problem, not a solution. 

The survey also found that 57% of leaders described only moderate to no familiarity with AI-enabled EHR enhancements. Adoption is outpacing understanding, which means many organizations are making purchasing decisions before they have the foundation to support them. 

Prepare for the Future 

Addressing these barriers means treating AI adoption as a change management challenge alongside a technology one. 

Start by mapping actual clinical workflows before evaluating any AI product. Where does documentation happen? Where do decisions get made? Where does time disappear? Tools designed around those realities are used consistently. Tools designed for an idealized workflow sit unused. 

Training needs to go beyond onboarding. Role-specific, ongoing education tied to real use cases gives clinicians the familiarity they need to trust a new tool and use it well. Involving staff in pilot evaluations helps too — clinicians who have a hand in selecting a tool are more likely to adopt it and to surface problems before they scale. 

On the cost side, the clearest path to demonstrating ROI is defining it upfront. Clear metrics, defined use cases, and cross-functional governance committees that track performance from day one make it far easier to show value over time. The organizations seeing the most traction with AI are building these structures before deployment, not after. 

Interoperability deserves serious weight in any vendor evaluation. In the Net Health/Becker’s survey, 63% of respondents placed interoperability in their top three priorities for AI functionality. A system that cannot communicate with existing infrastructure creates new problems rather than solving old ones. 

Connection to Net Health 

For specialty care providers working through these barriers, the underlying platform matters as much as any AI feature built on top of it. Net Health’s EHR software and analytics solutions are built around clinical workflows, with the goal of reducing documentation burden and surfacing insights that clinicians can actually use. Across more than 23,000 facilities spanning rehab therapy, wound care, occupational health, and long-term care, the focus stays on the people delivering care rather than the technology for its own sake. 

Truly, it seems that AI is being considered wherever accuracy, consistency, and efficiency gains can meaningfully improve care.

Why It Matters 

The 2025 Becker’s Healthcare/Net Health survey shows that 50 percent of leaders use AI for regulatory compliance, 47 percent for clinical decision-making, and 42 percent for patient engagement, highlighting that AI is increasingly being deployed for practical, high-impact tasks. These are core functions that influence patient safety, reimbursement accuracy, and clinician capacity.

National policy and industry guidance reinforce this shift. According to the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), effective clinical decision support (CDS) depends on the availability of accurate, timely, and interoperable data, because CDS tools operate only as well as the information available to them. Meanwhile, AI documentation tools continue to grow in adoption as organizations face increasing reporting demands and clinician burnout. 

The Becker’s Healthcare/Net Health survey also revealed that leaders see immediate, human-centered benefits in documentation support. The most cited opportunities include improving patient-provider relationships (22 percent), improving accuracy (21 percent), and reducing administrative burden (20 percent). These findings reinforce that the value of AI is in its power to humanize healthcare. When AI improves clarity, reduces clerical work, and supports more reliable documentation, clinicians gain back time and attention they can reinvest directly into patient care. 

Prepare for the Future 

1. Establish strong internal governance: AI governance is becoming an expectation across the healthcare industry. Organizations with formal oversight, including clinicians, compliance leaders, IT, and operations, are better positioned to guide safe, effective AI adoption. Industry bodies such as HIMSS emphasize that governance, transparency, and workforce training are essential components of responsible AI, helping organizations manage risks like data quality issues, workflow disruption, and model misalignment. 

2. Prioritize interoperability and data readiness: ONC’s interoperability framework underscores that CDS and AI tools require access to high-quality, complete, and portable clinical data. Leaders should assess whether their systems and partners support FHIR standards, open APIs, and cross-platform data sharing because AI insights become more accurate and clinically relevant as data becomes more connected. 

3. Build AI around human-centered workflows: AI works best when it supports clinicians in real time without adding friction. Tools such as ambient documentation, real-time prompts embedded in therapy workflows, or clinical decision support can reduce cognitive load rather than add to it. Human-centered design helps ensure the technology serves as an assistant, supporting clinical judgment and strengthening the provider-patient connection. 

Connection to Net Health 

Net Health’s mission to humanize healthcare aligns directly with how leaders are using AI today. Net Health’s specialty EHR platforms and predictive analytics are designed to surface actionable insights and help teams manage compliance and quality demands with greater confidence.  

Leaders are explicitly favoring AI tools that connect data across the enterprise and provide real-time decision support at the point of care. 

Why It Matters 

We are witnessing the convergence of three forces: exploding volumes of clinical and operational data, mounting pressure to improve outcomes and efficiency, and the urgency of clinician workforce fatigue. In that context, AI that simply sits in a “pilot” silo is no longer sufficient. According to Becker’s, 90 percent of health-system executives now prioritize digital and AI tools to transform access, personalization, and operational forecasting. 

But AI’s value depends on interoperability and timeliness. A global KLAS Research report found that AI and analytics are top investment priorities for 2025 — but noted that “cybersecurity and interoperability are key to infrastructure upgrades.” Similarly, a BMC Digital Health study found that while 84 percent of leaders use AI-derived predictive models in practice, barely half have governance teams in place — highlighting the readiness gap. 

In short, leaders know the promise of AI is real, but its delivery depends on it being connected and actionable. When data flows seamlessly and insights arrive in real time, the human side of care (clinicians, care teams, patients) can make better decisions, faster, and with more confidence. 

Prepare for the Future 

For those leading transformation in the health-system space, three strategies stand out: 

1. Embed interoperable architecture first. 

AI will only fulfill its promise if it sits on a foundation of shared data. Whether via FHIR-based exchanges, QHIN frameworks, or internal enterprise data hubs, interoperability is not optional. As one expert observed, “AI depends on access to high-quality data … companies struggle to implement innovations because they can’t access what they need.” 

2. Focus decision support on the real-time moment of care. 

AI should augment clinician decision-making in the moment — not deliver dashboards after the fact. Innovative clinical decision-support tools increasingly emphasize workflow integration, generative-AI capabilities, and unified platforms, according to Frost & Sullivan’s 2025 Frost Radar CDS report. 

3. Align with the human purpose of healthtech: “humantech.” 

Technology must strengthen — not replace — the human connection in care. That means governance, clinician involvement, and continuous training are as vital as the code. The shift is from “what can the machine do” to “how can the machine empower the human” in care. 

Connection to Net Health 

Net Health’s mission directly aligns with this emerging demand for interoperable, decision-supportive AI. The company’s specialty EHRs and predictive analytics solutions deliver actionable insights within clinician workflows, reducing documentation burden while improving patient engagement. Net Health helps caregivers make informed, timely decisions that keep the human connection at the center of care. The survey findings validate this approach: connecting systems, surfacing insights, and empowering clinical teams. 

Bionic limbs might sound like science fiction, but robotic exoskeletons are giving patients opportunities for rehabilitation that didn’t exist before. Whether the patient recently had a stroke or has lived with limited mobility for a lifetime, these adaptive therapies create new ways for patients to practice movement and feel supported while improving their mobility.

Why It Matters

Robotic exoskeletons use sensors, levels, motors, pneumatics, or hydraulics controlled by computers to adapt to the patient’s movements in real time. While currently cumbersome and expensive, they will soon create new opportunities for rehabilitative care and muscle training. The skeleton frame provides support for patients who cannot support their own body weight or control their muscle movements.

Using robotic exoskeletons offers benefits that a physical therapist or assistant alone cannot provide to patients. The support and mobility of equipment customized for the user are much better than those of general-use equipment or equipment for another person. Tapping into the intelligence of data and tracking the metrics exoskeletons collect during physical therapy is also helpful for monitoring progress and planning for future treatment.

While the technology is relatively new and continues to evolve, these are some of the ways robotic exoskeletons are making a difference for patients currently:

• Improving knee strength, walking speed, and quality of life in stroke patients with gait concerns
• Improving gaits in children with cerebral palsy by eliminating excessive bending in the knees or crouched gait
• Increasing walking speed and decreasing energy expenditure, which shows promise for supporting manual labor workers
• Translating the intent to move into actual movement in patients with traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries
• Offer additional support while ascending or descending stairs to those with unstable gaits
• Improve independence for patients who use wheelchairs by enabling them to stand or walk with support
• Being able to stand and engage in daily tasks for a quality-of-life-enhancing experience

From these examples, you can see that exoskeletons offer patients the opportunity to regain mobility, feel confident and supported when they move, and practice movement patterns in a safe environment. They have obvious physical benefits, but the psychological benefits are not to be overlooked. Patients may be able to return home sooner and need less intense physical therapy with the additional support of robotics.

With the revolution in AI and other big data processing systems, the data collected by robotic exoskeletons is now more helpful than ever. The ability to personalize the wearer’s experience will improve it, create more nuanced goals and outcomes, and support physical therapists in their regular practice. Collecting and analyzing data from these systems can pinpoint potential concerns, adjust in real time to problems with balance, gait, energy consumption, and speed, and create more comprehensive treatment plans for those who have experienced strokes, brain or spinal cord injuries, and genetic mutations.

Prepare for the Future

While robotic exoskeletons may currently be out of the budget for your physical therapy practice, the prices are slowly declining as the technology becomes more widely available. If you work with a facility that has access to this technology, learn more about it and how it can enhance your patients’ rehab experience.

Connection to Net Health

Another opportunity to use robotic exoskeletons is in occupational health. Many manufacturing and manual labor companies are starting to adopt this technology to provide better physical support for workers and reduce stress, fatigue, and injuries. An occupational health department will likely be responsible for determining which workers could benefit from this type of equipment and training them to use it correctly.

Continuously receiving data from patients and their devices will revolutionize how providers understand and respond to new information. With no additional requirements from patients to monitor their exercise regimens, heart rates, blood sugar levels, and other important data points, providers and patients will have access to the best and most thorough data about their health and progress, enabling them to make immediate and meaningful changes.

Why It Matters

The internet of medical things includes all the internet-connected devices that can deliver information to healthcare providers. This can be information about an individual, a facility, public spaces, or mobile units like ambulances or walk-in clinics. A highly connected cloud infrastructure enables systems to collect, store, and process data from any connected device. Common IoMT devices include:

• Glucose monitors
• Heart rate monitors
• Smart pills
• RFID data collection
• Inventory management
• Point-of-care kiosks
• Smart scales
• Smartwatches
• Temperature monitoring devices

Like the internet of things (IoT), these physical devices collect information and share it with databases or other electronic record-keeping systems to enhance decision-making and treatment planning. As we’ve already discussed, the more data a provider has, the more personalized and targeted their treatment decisions will be. The IoMT contributes to this data collection process by monitoring everyday activities, continuously monitoring factors like heart rate or oxygen saturation levels, and tracking movement through public spaces.

There have been multiple recent studies on the effects of using devices that independently transfer data and improve visibility for healthcare providers, showing improvements in health statistics and better preventative care. Both blood pressure and waist circumference decreased in one study when wearable devices were used to consistently monitor metabolic data. Another study was able to identify arrhythmia and recommend treatment proactively. This is possible because the technology alerts providers to results that deviate from the expected norm, and changes are made immediately in response.

Paired with other technology like augmented reality, IoMT devices can track exercise programs, teach correct movement patterns, and help patients more efficiently meet their health and fitness goals.

Other studies are in place to monitor systemic uses for IoMT. One hospital is implementing an IoMT practice to monitor restroom cleanliness and manage the stock of medical supplies. Connected devices can track the location of frequently used medical supplies like wheelchairs and infusion pumps. Even insurance companies can use IoMT devices to detect fraud, process claims, and assess risk.

In the future, IoMT will be able to track the progression of disease and prevent the spread of illnesses. For example, a temperature monitoring device could identify early signs of infections like COVID-19, alert the individual, and recommend that they not enter a building based on the likelihood of spreading it to others. This will also expand healthcare access to rural areas where high-quality providers located anywhere in the world can easily access complete health profiles via collected data from the IoMT.

Prepare for the Future

Healthcare currently has access to a large number of devices that can collect and process health information. The next challenge is to collate all this information in a system that can understand it and use AI algorithms to make educated suggestions based on the data. Keep up to date on how you can integrate more data into your practice, health records, and facility management.

Connection to Net Health

Electronic Health Records are already standard, but the IoMT will enhance their reliability and usefulness. Make sure your selected EHR can connect to the IoMT you want to use, and that data easily and securely passes between the two systems.

We are on the cusp of making this possible with predictive analytics. Because of models trained on large data sets, artificial intelligence can make accurate predictions about outcomes and risk factors, enabling providers to be more targeted and personalized in their approach.

Why It Matters

Medical care has always been based on reacting to symptoms, handling complaints and discomforts, and intervening during adverse events. If instead, we could predict health outcomes and provide preventative treatment, it could revolutionize the way we approach, pay for, and design healthcare. This fundamental transition is being powered by predictive artificial intelligence data.

While this is still experimental, several studies have had positive outcomes and promise more innovation in the future. In one study, an EHR-based decision-making tool was used to determine which patients needed more intense post-acute care. By providing additional support to these high-risk patients, the providers reduced 30-day readmissions by one-third and 60-day readmissions by 37%.

Predictive analytics uses big data sets to identify trends and patterns that individual providers would be unable to process or pinpoint. Analyzing historical data provides the algorithm with insight into the likely future of any individual patient compared to large models of millions of incidents. These models can include anonymized data from a variety of sources, including EHRs, social media, wearables, and more, making them accurate and reliable.

Some of the ways predictive analytics will support physical therapists in the future are by identifying patients who are:

• At high risk for falls
• Susceptible to reinjury
• Unmotivated and need reminders
• Likely to experience setbacks in their recovery
• In need of social support
• Depressed or anxious
• Not making progress on current treatment plans and need additional services

Physical therapists work at a systemic level as well, where predictive analytics can help provide services to the right groups at the right time and direct efforts toward high-risk groups or those most likely to benefit from services. It can identify patients likely to suffer from chronic conditions and determine the most cost-effective ways to treat health conditions.

Predictive analytics is also a valuable source for data on patients likely to miss appointments, allowing office managers to send reminders or help arrange transportation. By tracking symptoms and diagnoses, analytics can help predict and prepare for a pandemic or endemic and where it is likely to occur.

Another important use for predictive analytics will be for billing. When the models are trained on enough Medicare data, they can predict accurate standard payments and healthcare affordability across large populations. In the same way that Amazon predicts what items a customer will want to purchase, healthcare predictive analytics will be able to predict what treatments a patient will likely need and deliver them efficiently. It can anticipate which patients should be treated with antibiotics or who will require emergency department visits.

With this in-depth information available to providers, they will be able to proactively address health concerns, develop healthy habits that address specific risk factors, and provide targeted treatments for those at risk of preventable disease or injury.

Prepare for the Future

Your EHRs are a wealth of information. Connecting your system to data processing gives your practice data points from millions of patients and experiences. You could never collect that data on your own, but with predictive analytics, you can benefit from data points collected across locations and time for accurate outcome analysis. Ensure that your EHR collects relevant data and is trained on large data sets for the best accuracy.

Connection to Net Health

Invest in a quality EHR system that incorporates learnings from large data sets. Your EHR can power decision-making for patient care, billing, intervention, and treatment planning on an individual and community basis.

This innovative use of AI reduces the amount of time providers spend on paperwork and improves the relationship between patients and physicians, allowing them to spend visits focused on communication and problem-solving rather than documentation.

Why It Matters

Artificial intelligence is advancing quickly, creating opportunities to reduce the burden of workflows and uncover new efficiencies for healthcare providers. Physicians reported spending nearly two hours per day on documentation outside of office hours. Additionally, 58% of providers report that excessive bureaucratic tasks are causing burnout, and 37% attribute it to spending too many hours at work. Ambient clinical intelligence (ACI) has the potential to greatly reduce that time and capture more details through passively listening to natural conversations.

ACI technology listens to the interactions between physicians and patients and creates clinical documentation based on those interactions. Reducing documentation tasks to simply reviewing and approving the AI-generated note will save time for clinicians but also improve the patient-provider relationship. Ambient documentation allows physicians to spend more time listening rather than documenting, produce more thorough clinical notes, and enhance patient engagement during appointments.

The capabilities of AI are constantly improving, and as the model is trained on larger medical data sets, ambient AI will also be able to:

• Flag patients showing signs of depression or mental health concerns
• Extract social determinants of health from the conversation
• Use data from wearables to evaluate treatment options
• Remind patients about appointments, taking medication, or maintaining exercise regimens
• Identify social barriers and create referrals to other services such as meal delivery, home cleaning, transportation, and more
• Create billing documents that avoid errors
• Protect providers by accurately documenting all important factors and supporting informed treatment decisions

Ambient documentation will also transform the business practices of healthcare facilities. It can reduce overhead costs by avoiding billing errors. Streamlining both the paperwork and the actual practice of delivering services will make providers more efficient with their time, providing maximum profits for the facility. It also ensures that all paperwork is compliant with federal and insurance regulations and helps protect the provider legally.

The demand for physical therapists will continue to increase and place additional demands on the time of the working therapists in the field. Ambient documentation is one step closer toward releasing practitioners from the burden of documentation and returning most of their time to the patient relationships that initially drew them to the field. It will also increase patients’ confidence when they know their insurance will be billed correctly and their treatment plan is based on in-depth knowledge of their personal situation. Everyone in healthcare wins when artificial intelligence can manage tedious work and free up more time for patient care.

Prepare for the Future

Most EHR systems have the option to use ambient documentation. Consider what is built into the systems you already use to find time savings and ways to increase patient satisfaction. If you haven’t established an ambient documentation system, research which systems would work for your practice. Consider if you can configure the structure in which the notes are created and what data sets the models are trained on for learning language.

Connection to Net Health

Net Health has a strategic technology partnership with Tali, a leading AI assistant and ambient clinical documentation solution. The integration will revolutionize EHR documentation through AI technology by infusing Net Health EHR software with Tali’s voice-enabled AI assistant. Learn more.

The findings offer insight into how leaders are rethinking technology investments to safeguard revenue, improve efficiency, and meet compliance demands.

What Is It?

As reimbursement models shift and compliance requirements tighten, strategies to sustain predictable revenue in the face of policy uncertainty and operational complexity are becoming a top strategic priority. The Becker’s Healthcare and Net Health survey of 100 CFOs, finance VPs, and clinical technology leaders across a range of restorative care settings reveals five key trends shaping that strategy:

1. Convergence of pressures: Leaders face simultaneous demands from data privacy laws, interoperability mandates, and emerging AI-related regulations.
2. Compliance-driven investment: Organizations increasingly evaluate technology spending based on how well it eases compliance burdens, assures data privacy, and enables strategic growth.
3. Reimbursement strain on operations: Delays and denials are significantly affecting financial health, with revenue cycle, staffing, and budgeting among the most impacted areas.
4. Mixed confidence in AI: While nearly half (49%) view AI as a solution for cost efficiency and ROI, almost a third remain undecided, citing a need for clear ROI, governance, and ethical safeguards.
5. Focused tech priorities: The top three planned investments for 2025–26 are revenue cycle management tools, compliance monitoring tools, and EHR upgrades, signaling a move toward financial efficiency, regulatory readiness, and more connected systems.

Why It Matters

The operational and financial stakes are high. Over 40% of leaders report significant impacts from reimbursement delays and denials, which are hitting revenue cycle management, staffing, and budget forecasting the hardest. While 42% express some optimism about potential reimbursement policy changes under the new administration, 38% are pessimistic, and 20% remain neutral.

Technology worries add to the uncertainty. Leaders are keeping a close eye on AI, wary of how it will be implemented and governed. Interoperability is another sticking point: more than half admit their systems are only partially integrated.

Prepare for the Future

Yet data shows that health systems are trying to take the right steps. Revenue cycle management tools, compliance monitoring solutions, and EHR upgrades top the list of planned solution purchases for 2025–26.

AI is also on the horizon. However, moving undecided leaders from “maybe” to “yes” will require real-world proof, specifically measurable ROI, strong data safeguards, and integration that doesn’t create more problems than it solves.

Connection to Net Health

The survey findings highlight today’s realities: health systems want partners who can help them meet compliance obligations, connect systems that don’t “talk” to each other, and provide clarity in areas like AI governance.

Every organization’s strategy will be different. But the goal is shared: a stable and predictable revenue stream that can withstand shifting regulations, payer policies, and the daily realities of delivering care. Be sure to download and check out the full survey here.

What Is It?

In the Net Health Source Report for Q1 2025, we heard directly from 200 rehab therapy professionals working in outpatient clinics, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living communities.

Their insights give us a real-time look at what’s on their minds, what’s driving their decisions, and how they’re navigating a changing world. Conducted by Censuswide, the survey sheds light on how providers are feeling about their work, how they’re using (and reacting to) new technologies, and what pain points, like burnout and reimbursement, continue to shape the profession.

One key theme: while most respondents are optimistic about the future of rehab therapy, those on the front lines of care remain more cautious. That caution extends especially to emerging technologies and AI, with clear generational divides emerging in the data.

Why It Matters

Burnout is still a concern in the industry, especially for younger professionals. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of rehab therapy workers under 35 say it’s a significant issue, according to the report. The good news? Many respondents see technology as part of the solution if it’s implemented thoughtfully.

Among the most promising technologies is ambient listening — AI-powered documentation support that reduces administrative workload. While clinicians remain somewhat hesitant, many non-clinician rehab workers report strong support: 80% feel positive or very positive about ambient documentation’s role in their organization.

Reimbursement remains a concern, particularly for non-clinicians, 64% of whom say payer issues have had a significant or very significant impact on their work. Clinicians are somewhat less affected, but still feel the strain, particularly in response to complex programs like MIPS, which 57% view neutrally or negatively.

Despite these concerns, the survey shows that many decision-makers are channeling optimism into action by investing in training, hiring, and tools that improve both clinical and operational outcomes. Nearly a quarter say they’re increasing investment in data analytics to support those goals.

Prepare for the Future

The report reveals a generational shift in openness to AI and healthtech. Younger workers (18–35) are far more likely to be “very positive” about AI, with 30% expressing strong support and just 17% remaining neutral. Decision makers, however, have made up their minds: over three-quarters (76%) have a positive attitude about the use of AI, with just 13% neutral about its use.

This shift points to the need for thoughtful, targeted implementation strategies that align technology with clinical goals. AI isn’t a silver bullet, but when it reduces documentation burden and improves patient engagement, it’s a step forward in supporting both workforce and workflow.

Connection to Net Health

Rehab therapy settings are already embracing promising solutions like ambient listening. By helping teams document smarter and focus on care, technology can be a valuable partner in a profession that continues to adapt.

Learn more by downloading the full Net Health Source Report for Rehab Therapy Q1 2025.

Physical therapists who adapt to delivering excellent services in a home health structure will have reduced costs, happier patients, and flexible practices to support a wide range of people.

Why It Matters

In the United States, about 12 million patients receive healthcare at home each year. The effect is startling — recovering at home reduces hospital readmissions, mortality rates, hospital-acquired infections, and other complications. The medical community dipped its toes in the water of inpatient-level care at home in 2020 with the passage of the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) initiative. The immediate need this addressed was removing patients from hospital beds needed for severe COVID-19 patient care. However, other benefits have become evident in the four years since it took effect. Healthcare IT News reports that in March, President Trump signed a continuing resolution extending COVID-19-era Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulations that apply to telehealth and hospital-at-home care through September 30, 2025. 

With advanced analytics, AI, remote monitoring, and a highly connected populace, at-home care is easier than ever for patients and providers. Some research suggests that 30 to 40 percent of all care could shift to a home-based setting because of these interconnected systems. The most successfully treated conditions at home include heart disease, COPD, cancer, diabetes, and congestive heart failure. Some models include self-administered dialysis, keeping dementia patients in their homes longer with support services, and even receiving IV medication for pneumonia or infections. 

Technology is powering many of these services and making them more accessible. 

• Telemedicine allows patients to access consultation services. 
• Prescription delivery brings medication directly to patients. 
• Wearable technology enables constant monitoring.
• Meals can be delivered.
• Smart home devices only require voice activation. 
• Connected devices like phones or home speakers can remind patients to take medication or participate in therapy exercises. 

Of course, most patients prefer to return home quicker after a hospitalization and will choose to stay in their homes as they age. Technology has enabled these practices, so we’ve seen more benefits than increased satisfaction. Patients also experience:

• Fewer hospitality readmissions
• Lower treatment costs
• Fewer emergency department visits
• Improved management of chronic conditions
• Less anxiety and depression
• Improved ability to independently perform activities of daily living

Physical therapy services are also becoming part of this suite of services included as part of home health. Patients who receive physical therapy services at their homes report greater satisfaction with their care, have better attendance, and comply more closely with their treatment plans. One study of rehab therapy patients who had access to app-based physical therapy found that access to the service was associated with a 14% increase in workouts each week. 

Insurance providers are increasingly acknowledging these benefits as well. Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance companies include benefits for home-based physical therapy services. For patients who cannot drive, have compromised immune systems, or lack access to physical therapy services in their local area, using home-based or virtual services can lead to better outcomes. 

Prepare for the Future

Ensure you are properly equipped with the tools and technology to make this transition possible if you provide physical therapy services in a home setting. This can include secure virtual offices, medical supplies like portable blood pressure machines and sensors, and exercise equipment like foam rollers and elastic bands. 

Connection to Net Health

Our healthcare system is moving toward more value-based care models. In this structure, payers will focus more on delivering the best holistic care while saving money. Services offered in the home are more cost-effective than inpatient hospital or SNF stays. PTs and other providers will be asked to consider these alternative service methods to comply with changing regulations. 

New tech-enabled therapy is an exciting change that means therapy can happen anywhere, from a hospital room to a patient’s home.

Why It Matters 

As we already know, the physical therapy occupation is experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals but is on the cusp of an increased demand for services. While using technology, AI, and machine learning will save time for service providers, patients can also access technology that will support their healing, require less hands-on assistance from a physical therapist, and increase their motivation to continue treatment, even if their time between appointments increases.  

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated remote interventions and spurred innovation in every industry to enable virtual care and support. The technology continues to improve in accuracy and usability, creating a mainstay for medical care and easing the burden on overwhelmed facilities and practitioners.  

Wearables, augmented reality, and virtual reality can all be employed in physical therapy plans to improve the patient experience. Consider the feasibility of incorporating these into your practice for patients who can benefit from the precision and perpetual monitoring technology offers.  

1. Wearables. While Apple watches and rings are standard in the general population, they can be tapped to benefit those in physical therapy. For example, they can track movement and encourage patients to move more after surgery or injury. Other wearable technologies can monitor movement patterns, track biometrics like temperature and heart rate, and assess flexibility, balance, and strength. Wearable technology enables patients to monitor their progress, allows doctors to collect data over extended periods, gently reminds patients to follow through, and can include gamification of physical therapy compliance. More advanced wearable technology, such as skin sleeves, fall detection devices, and smart glasses, are constantly being introduced to the market, which is revolutionizing how compliance is measured and ensured in physical therapy.  

2. Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality (AR) layers virtual elements over the real world around the user. Pokémon Go is a great example of AR. Remote physical therapy sessions can use AR to set tangible goals for patients, like reaching for a virtual object or moving around a virtual obstacle. AR can also project an image onto the patient to mimic correct movement patterns. Technology like this can help PTs “see” the bones and muscles during exercises to ensure the integrity of the movement. It can also give immediate feedback to a patient working independently between sessions with a therapist.   

3. Virtual Reality. Virtual Reality (VR) gives the doctor and patient even more control over the simulation during therapy. Patients can be completely immersed in a new environment, creating novelty that distracts from pain and makes the therapy more engaging and likely to be maintained. Patients that can benefit from a relaxed setting can enter a calming natural forest. Others who thrive off high-adrenaline situations can fight monsters, drive cars, or climb challenging peaks. VR technology also captures detailed data about each session, giving PTs comprehensive information about the progress and challenges of each patient.  

New technology makes remote monitoring and virtual physical therapy possible and creates novelty that encourages compliance with treatment plans and additional data for providers. An attractive perk for new providers is the ability to work from home, and technology like AR and VR will power the platforms that enable this work flexibility. AR and VR technology in healthcare is expected to increase by 27% in the next few years. Expect the technology to continue to develop and improve each year to make this possible.  

Prepare for the Future 

Consider incorporating new technologies into your practice. This can give patients greater autonomy over their health care and provide you with better data to prepare and adjust treatment plans. As the technology improves, it will become more user-friendly for older patients and widely available and accepted in the market.  

Connection to Net Health 

The more personalized the treatment plan and communications from healthcare providers, the more likely patients will feel empowered to make changes in their health and follow through. At Net Health, patient engagement via customized assessments, communication that addresses their needs and goals, and thoughtful treatment that considers their social, emotional, and physical needs are top priorities. Our Patient Engagement Suite enables you to give each patient the personalized attention they deserve while saving time on cumbersome documentation.  

Sources 
Augmented Reality in Physical Therapy 
Augmented & Virtual Reality: Transforming Physical Therapy Outcomes 

With an opioid crisis sweeping the nation and insurance scrutiny increasing, physical therapists need a new perspective on pain and what it means to reduce pain.

Why It Matters 

In response to the National Institutes of Health Federal Pain Research Strategy’s call for new pain management models for physical therapy, the Pain Recovery and Integrative Systems Model (PRISM) was introduced in 2023. The authors describe this new approach as “a salutogenic, integrative, process-based cognitive-behavioral model to guide physical therapists in managing the multidimensional nature of pain.” Until now, the biopsychosocial (BPS) model has been the primary way to understand a patient’s pain, but it lacks direction specifically for clinical decision-making for physical therapists. It also often under- or over-emphasizes specific factors that influence how a patient feels and responds to pain. However, it is important to note that the PRISM model may also have limitations, such as the need for extensive training and potential challenges in implementation in certain healthcare settings.  

The Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapy (AOPT) favors this new model because it acknowledges that pain is multi-dimensional and can be influenced by past experiences, biological factors, psychological and social situations, and lifestyle constructs. PRISM is a holistic approach to understanding and treating pain where the goal is to lessen reliance on medication that has led to an opioid crisis in many areas of the country. Physical therapists frequently treat patients with chronic pain, and the expectation that the pain will be eliminated is unrealistic and creates dissatisfaction and a lack of follow-through with physical therapy programs that can make improvements in their quality of life. A new approach is needed to recenter expectations and redefine how to live with chronic pain.  

As stated in the definition, there are three main areas of focus for the PRISM model: 

• Salutogenic. This is the belief that people have the innate ability to create and maintain wellness, even in the face of adversity. Health is not a binary thing but a continuum in which people are always moving between extremes of health and the absence of health. More than just pathology is at play here. Coping mechanisms also play a large part in the patient’s health and well-being. Even those experiencing pain can be healthy by being trained to see themselves and the world around them as manageable and meaningful.  

• Integrative. Pain is multidimensional and can be affected by physical, social, and psychological factors. Providers will need to assess patients’ physical symptoms and willingness and motivation to change. Participation in therapy depends on this mindset and the patient’s outlook on possible change and improvement. Motivation and outlook wax and wane, and harnessing the power of mindset makes a defining difference in pain management outcomes.  

• Process-based cognitive-behavioral. Pain recovery and healing are journeys with no defined endpoint. The goal is to equip patients with the tools and techniques they need to be active, empowered participants in their recovery. This may include physical movement exercises, cognitive behavior therapy, relaxation or meditation, or lifestyle changes.  

This is a significant shift from past treatment plans where a specific injury receives a particular treatment for a set time. Instead, this person-centered approach opens the possibilities for treatment beyond traditional physical therapy and pain medication. Therapists will need to view pain as a lived experience that is unique to every individual. Instead of following a regimented plan, the therapist and patient are a team that sets goals, develops a sense of curiosity about the pain, seeks alternative solutions, and defines success on a personal level. Rather than aiming to return a body part to pre-injury status, the goal is to reduce pain sensations, learn methods for managing pain without professional intervention, and develop a set of effective techniques for the individual.  

Whole-person approaches such as PRISM will reduce medical expenses, decrease reliance on pain medication, and improve emotional well-being and self-efficacy during and after treatment. Those with chronic pain need an alternative such as this to continue to live healthy lives where they can cope with obstacles, whether they are physical, psychological, or social.  

Prepare for 2025 

Learn more about the PRISM model and how to incorporate these holistic methods into your practice with chronic pain patients. Additional training may be necessary to expand the scope of what your practice offers and can include alternative therapies such as CBT or relaxation methods.  

Connection to Net Health  

We are in the midst of a transition to value-based care, and in that model, physical therapists will be required to collaborate with a wide variety of healthcare providers to prove that their interventions are effective and cost-conscious. As you work toward this new model, adopting a corresponding new perspective on treating chronic pain will improve outcomes and reduce the costs of prescription pain medication.  

Physical therapists will have more providers to choose from and cost-effective options for bringing this technology to their own practices.

Why it Matters 

Markered motion capture technology has been a standard method for collecting accurate data about body movement in physical therapy, sports medicine, and radiology. Physicians use reflectors, light diodes, or infrared markers on key anatomical landmarks. Cameras track these markers to collect data about the mechanics of movement. They can sense muscle activation, body structure, joint integrity, and gait concerns.  

The quality of data collected from motion capture technology greatly improves physical therapy treatment planning, evaluation, and decision-making. However, traditional marker use is time-consuming and expensive, can only be done in specific therapeutic settings, and can lead to unnatural movements that produce inaccurate information. New markerless methods are creating new efficiencies and data integrity for physical therapists. Machine learning and visual computing systems are revolutionizing how movement can be captured and evaluated.  

The same technology that powers surveillance and VR gaming systems can also capture data about muscles, joints, and bones. This technology has rapidly advanced thanks to AI and machine learning. Recent studies indicate markerless systems are as effective at capturing accurate data as suits or elaborate marker systems. Other advantages include portability, decreased cost, and quicker testing and results when patients do not need to wear sensors. 

Some of the systems now available for markerless motion capture (MMC) technology include: 

• Single-camera 3D systems. Portable and affordable options for many practices.  
• Multiple-camera systems. While extremely accurate, these systems require setup, calibration, and a significant monetary and space investment.  
• Video playback. Video can be captured on a cell phone, but the therapist must evaluate and measure the images.  
• Microsoft Kinect. With MMCs, this technology uses thousands of data points to evaluate movement and process the information to measure balance, range of motion, and posture.  
• 4D capture. The fourth dimension is capturing differences over time. The technology tracks changes and improvements throughout therapy by comparing sessions over the course of treatment.  

Physical therapists know how essential it is to be able to evaluate the movement patterns of patients accurately. The gold standard for this process has been time — and labor-intensive motion capture via markers. The new technology will provide benefits to both the therapist and the patient: 

• Eliminating markers and an extensive setup process makes the evaluation much more comfortable for patients, particularly those with mobility issues.  
• There is already a labor shortage in physical therapy and a high demand for services. Quick and efficient markerless technology decreases the time it takes to perform a thorough evaluation, and machine learning makes data processing fast and accurate.  
• Markers and movement suits can be cumbersome and limit movements, leading to inaccurate results. 
• Detailed data and analysis can empower better and more personalized treatment plans.   
• The portability of these systems means this powerful data will be accessible to more physical therapy practices and patients.  
• Eliminating the placement of dozens or hundreds of markers reduces the chance of errors and inaccurate data collection.  

Prepare for 2025 

Evaluate what motion capture technology you currently use and where upgrades can save you time and provide a better experience for your patients. Many companies now produce MMC technology and can train your staff to use the system expertly and efficiently to improve monitoring and personalize treatment plans.  

Connection to Net Health 

MMC is the perfect complement to your advanced EHR. With integrations, send data directly to your internal system and tap into machine learning and analytics to synthesize information from every source. This will support your treatment planning and make personalization easier than ever before.  

Sources 
Markerless motion capture estimates of lower extremity kinematics and kinetics are comparable to marker-based across 8 movements 

These innovative breakthroughs in understanding our genetic makeup continue to change how professionals approach medicine.  One change that is quickly becoming commonplace is personalized medicine. This is “an emerging practice of medicine that uses an individual’s genetic profile to guide decisions made in regard to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.”³ A one-size-fits-all approach is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Thanks to new genetic research, doctors can prescribe the right medication in the correct dosage, anticipate how a patient will react to treatments, and suggest lifestyle changes for diseases with a genetic predisposition. This research-based approach is also poised to transform how we provide physical therapy services to patients.  

Why it Matters 

The body’s response to exercise varies greatly based on the genetic components we are beginning to understand. Approximately 50% of exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness is due to genetic factors.⁴ This data leads to better exercise regimes and provides details like the best exercise programs and times of day, suggested sleep hygiene, and optimal dietary programs based on a patient’s genetic makeup. Genetic information can help elite athletes develop training regimes, as well as help develop exercise programs that improve longevity, mobility, and recovery from injury or illness.  

Physical therapists are already experts at understanding how lifestyle and environmental factors influence a patient’s health and expected outcomes. Layer this with information about genetic factors, and providers get a comprehensive understanding of responses to medication, physical activity, likeliness to comply, and rates of readmissions. This in-depth information will make treatment planning much more accurate and individualized.  

Information about the root causes of illness, injury, healing, and health will change the way providers treat patients. It will also broaden the scope of treatment from traditional interventions to encompass preventative measures, lifestyle changes, and stress reduction programs. Genetic information will provide insight into risk factors, suggested diets, physical activity, pain perception, and regenerating lost muscle mass. There is also strong evidence that previously untreatable conditions will start to show signs of progress through gene therapy and cell regeneration.⁵  

Even more progressive research shows that there may be alternatives to traditional exercise or physical therapy for those unable to participate in conventional PT offerings. Those who use wheelchairs, have degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, or are experiencing paralysis have found success with gene therapy that mimics the results of physical activity.⁶ While more research is needed, this could be the catalyst that allows these patients to work toward normal functioning and participate in a recovery program and independently perform activities of daily living.  

Prepare for the Future 

Genetic counseling is not available to all patients. Learn who is eligible and who provides the service for insurance providers you work with. Keep up with regulations about the privacy of genetic information, as well as research about how this information can help you tailor your treatment plans to the unique genetic makeup of your patients.  

Artificial Intelligence is a buzzword in every industry in 2025, particularly for medical providers. Uses are rapidly evolving as the technology learns from expanded applications. AI can process large quantities of data quickly and cross-reference a set of data with what it has learned. This processing speed can benefit physical therapists and patients as the technology examines images and medical history to accurately predict healing, risk factors, root causes, and treatment plans. Rather than relying on one provider’s knowledge and experience, it can synthesize massive amounts of data to compare the patient to millions of other data points. This improves the accuracy of diagnosis and develops a more accurate treatment plan.  

Why it matters 

AI will continue to refine its suggestions for better, more effective treatment by adding data to the technology through documentation and measurement. Instead of following prescribed physical therapy programs, AI can help providers develop personalized treatment plans that consider a patient’s age, mobility, health history, and potential areas of concern. Customized plans will evolve as more information is gathered and the patient progresses through treatment and makes improvements. It can notice patterns, monitor trends, and predict needs quickly. Allowing AI to constantly iterate treatment plans in response to a patient’s progress leads to faster recovery times and more provider availability. This is particularly essential in rural or high-cost-of-living areas experiencing PT shortages.  

An additional layer of support AI can offer is monitoring sessions with patients. AI can measure and track even minute changes in mobility, pain, angles, posture, and balance. Employing wearable technology or motion capture technology during physical therapy improves the experience and the accuracy of documentation and future planning. AI and robotic coaches can fill gaps in support for patients during therapy. It can interact with patients, keeping them on track between appointments by reminding them to practice exercises and correcting unhelpful movement patterns.¹ 

AI also supports clinicians by completing paperwork, tracking documentation, and catching billing errors. Using AI to support clerical work will save the practice time and money. Integrated electronic medical records can proactively understand payer regulations and ensure compliance by alerting practices to errors. In a 2023 APTA study, three-quarters of providers reported that prior authorization requirements delayed treatment by more than 25%. Ten percent of claims are denied the first time they are processed, and most respondents report spending more than 30 minutes on each of these claims.² Using AI to screen documentation for errors before submission will save time and money for all physical therapy practices.  

While embracing AI to streamline administrative tasks and improve treatment is exciting, we can’t ignore that many people are still wary of this new technology, and it can pose privacy risks if not used correctly. When implementing AI technology into your practice, understand what it can and cannot do accurately. Carefully select your technology provider by screening their security, backup methods, and privacy regulations. Medical providers have access to large amounts of personal data and are responsible for protecting it, even if they use AI to support treatment and billing.  

Prepare for the future 

Be open to embracing the right AI technology for your practice. Identify areas where big data sets and natural language models will save time and make you more effective. Research the possibilities for AI to transform your billing systems and treatment planning.  

This significant increase in the elderly population will not only create a need for additional physical therapists who work with elderly patients to restore mobility and improve quality of life but also strain the healthcare industry. It also means that many physical therapists currently working in the field will retire in the coming years, and the next generation of therapists will need to be trained and prepared to take their place in a rapidly changing industry.  

In a March 2024 study, 60% of respondents age 55+ have used physical therapy services.¹ Of those receiving physical therapy in any setting, 40-43% are 65 and older. As the population of older adults increases, so will the number seeking physical therapy services. A 2023 study reflected, “Advancing age increases the presence of disease and the risk of a fall with the potential for subsequent injuries. Therefore, prevention-focused efforts aimed at fall reduction and health promotion are warranted for older adults.”² 

Why it Matters 

Older populations may be referred to physical therapy for various reasons, from prevention to recovery. Practicing physical therapists should be familiar with using movement and exercise to support elderly patients, including: 

• Prevent falls
• Strength
• Mobility
• Flexibility
• Pain management
• Control of disease progression
• Mental acuity
• Rehabilitation
• Mood stabilization
• Balance

As a greater percentage of the population enters their senior years, the focus on healthy aging will continue to gain momentum. Studies have shown that reducing physical inactivity by 25% could prevent one million cases of dementia annually worldwide,³ and physical therapy in a hospital setting reduces the risk of readmissions.⁴ 

The American Physical Therapy Association released a 10% total vacancy rate in its annual report in 2023. This vacancy rate is partially due to the growing demand for physical therapy services, with 51% of practices reporting vacancies due to their business growth. Leadership should also be aware that 72% of those who left the profession cited a better work-life balance as a primary motivation. This data underscores the need for proactive measures to address the workforce shortage in the physical therapy industry.  

Despite therapists leaving the occupation due to burnout, seeking a higher-paying profession, or retirement, new graduates continue to enter the field. There has been a 186% increase in graduates from Doctor of Physical Therapy programs since 2010, or more than 10,000 graduates entering the workforce per year. Still, it is estimated that 26,000 open positions by 2025 cannot be filled.⁵ This shortage will be particularly dire in rural areas or regions with a high cost of living. DPTs graduate with an average of $142,000 in student debt that they need to be able to repay.⁶ In addition to creating long wait times for physical therapy services, a shortage of therapists in rural areas deprives residents of pain management services that could contribute to lower uses of medications. These areas have been affected disproportionately by the opioid crisis and could be impacted by greater access to non-medical interventions.  

Prepare for the Future 

Welcome new graduates into the profession by mentoring them and establishing a healthy work-life balance for employees. Try to anticipate your practice’s hiring needs, as filling vacancies may take longer than usual.  

Connection to Net Health 

Those entering the workforce today expect the same technological efficiencies in their workplace as they have for the rest of their lives. Entice new physical therapists with a comprehensive tech stack that includes EHRs and wound care databases. This will make their jobs easier and allow them to focus on patient care instead of paperwork.