Digital Health Startup Nutrimedy Partners with Brigham and Women's Hospital to Assess Mobile App Intervention Aimed at Helping Patients Become Eligible for TJA
Nutrimedy and Brigham and Women's Hospital together will investigate a 12 week weight loss program for participants to qualify for total joint replacement surgery.
BOSTON, July 27, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Starting in July of 2020, Nutrimedy will be participating in its first clinical trial. Dr. Antonia Chen is the principal investigator of this study which will assess the impact of a 12-week remote dietitian supervised dietary and physical activity change for weight loss intervention for patients prior to undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA) of the hip or knee. This study is important because it may help patients become eligible for TJA, which typically requires a body mass index (BMI) under 40 kg/m2 for surgery in an effort to optimize outcomes.
Mike Seward, a fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School who conceptualized the study says, "The months prior to total joint replacement surgery may be an opportunity for patients to initiate behavior changes that will simultaneously ready them for surgery and improve their overall health status. This will be the first study to assess pre-operative weight loss in patients anticipating orthopaedic surgery using a registered dietitian and mobile app intervention."
Losing weight before TJA is associated with fewer discharges to rehabilitation facilities and shorter lengths of stay. Identifying how to promote weight loss before TJA may help patients become eligible for TJA and experience better outcomes after surgery. Patient's that qualify for the study and are randomized to the Nutrimedy intervention group will have access to the web platform and/or app to connect with a dietitian through video sessions, secure messaging and AI enabled meal tracking. The dietitian will remotely guide the patient using Nutrimedy's digital tools that provide insight to the patient's eating habits and physical activity.
Nutrimedy's Chief Clinical Officer, Mallory Franklin, is excited for Nutrimedy to be a part of this important work and had this to say, "For patients managing chronic joint pain, receiving TJA has a profound impact on quality of life and mobility. Without meeting the BMI cutoff, many patients are unable to receive this life changing surgery. We are excited to support patients in their overall nutrition needs not only to help them qualify for surgery, but to improve their surgical outcomes by optimizing their nutrition status."
"As a digital tele-therapeutics startup that is focused on the next generation of evidence-based clinical nutrition, we see first hand how important it is to create scalable remote models of care. Nutrimedy is specifically designed for healthcare settings and is already being utilized in areas such as IBD, short bowel syndrome, oncology and end-stage renal disease, but this will be our first opportunity to provide Nutrimedy to patients prior to undergoing total joint arthroplasty," explained Karolina Starczak, CEO of Nutrimedy.
About Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brigham Health is a global leader, devoted to maintaining and restoring health for people everywhere. Brigham Health is composed of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, and Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization.
Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is an international leader in virtually every area of medicine and has been the site of pioneering breakthroughs that have improved lives around the world. A major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, BWH has a legacy of excellence that continues to grow year after year. BWH includes 150 outpatient practices with over 1,200 physicians. We serve patients from New England, throughout the United States, and from 120 countries around the world. BWH is an internationally-known referral center for the most complex cases in nearly all areas of medicine. In fact, U.S. News and World Report has consistently ranked us a top hospital and among the best in specialty areas including cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, gynecology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, and rheumatology. Trial number is NCT04330391.
About Nutrimedy
Nutrimedy is a digital health company focused on the next generation of evidence-based clinical nutrition care to provide real-time at-point recommendations and decision making assistance to patients using a virtual model. Nutrimedy provides longitudinal support and guidance for over 50 conditions through built-in video appointments with registered dietitians, secure messaging, file sharing, educational content, customizable trackers and AI-enabled photo food logging. As a B2B solution, Nutrimedy partners with providers, biotech, medtech, and health insurance organizations to improve patient access to expert nutrition care. To find out more visit http://www.nutrimedy.com
SOURCE Nutrimedy, Inc.
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