mHealthBelgium
The mHealthBelgium initiative was launched by the government in 2018. mhealth has the intention to integrate mobile health apps in the Belgian healthcare system.
moveUP is the first application that has gone through the ‘validation pyramid’ of mHealthBelgium and is ready for reimbursement. At the moment a pilot study is ongoing.
moveUP is reimbursed
moveUP is reimbursed by the Belgian healthcare system.
This means both the moveUP app with step counter and the services provided by the physical therapist who treats the patient are now refundable.
The reimbursement – in the form of a convention – applies to the whole of Belgium and runs in two phases. Here you find a link to the page on the RIZIV website on the convention. (Only available in Dutch and French).
- In the first phase, 15 hospitals will include patients in a study initiated by RIZIV and KCE. In total, more than thousand patients will be compared on their end result and use of care resources. This phase ended on the 1st of November 2022.
- Since the 1st of November reimbursement is opened up to every primary knee or hip prosthesis patient.
Mandatory physical sessions
Patients follow rehabilitation using the mobile application with a set minimum number of conventional physical therapy sessions in the physical presence of the physiotherapist (1 session a week for the 1st month, 1 session every 2 weeks thereafter.
How does moveUP work?
moveUP provides a physiotherapeutic rehabilitation program for patients that undergo a knee or hip replacement surgery and ACL reconstruction. The app serves as digital support for the patient throughout the full patient journey to improve the quality of care.
Through the application, patients are treated remotely with the app by means of questionnaires, exercise instructions by videos, and activity measurements in real time. It provides a multi-disciplinary approach, with physical therapists, doctors, and surgeons being able to work and communicate through the platform.
In this way, it is possible to personalize the rehabilitation of the patient based on the objective and subjective data obtained. Complaints or complications can be detected at an early stage and, if necessary, action can be taken to ensure rapid improvement.
Through the moveUP application, data collection takes place and patients can be monitored via the moveUP patient app.
This video explains the patient journey
How can a physical therapist provide his or her reimbursed services through the app?
You, as a physical therapist can provide your services to the patient in the convention study through one of the 2 ways:
- Provide physical sessions only—A minimum number of obliged physical sessions or physical sessions on indication is foreseen. Not all physiotherapists feel comfortable following up with a patient digitally but are interested in participating in the convention. In this case, the digital follow-up will be taken up by a certified physiotherapist (specialized in tele-rehabilitation) or by a physiotherapist of the hospital where the patient had surgery. You then join the convention as part of the patient’s medical team and take care of the physical physiotherapy sessions.
Click here for more information on how to get started with providing physical sessions for moveUP patients - Provide digital follow-up and physical sessions—You can follow-up patients digitally through the moveUP. You will participate as ‘lead’ physiotherapist. As a physical therapist, you will fully participate in the convention. You will take care of the daily, digital supervision of the patient, as well as the possible physical therapy sessions. You can attest to the nomenclature numbers of lump sum 3.
Click here for more information on how to get started with providing digital follow-up for moveUP patients