Biodex Rehab Systems
ProClinica helps Biodex gain a "Clinical Advantage" over its competitorsProClinica and Biodex management met shortly after the company introduced its first multi-joint neuromuscular testing and rehabilitation system, one of several on the market to help assess and rehabilitate patients suffering from sports and traumatic injuries. At the time, each competitor offered a confusing range of “bells and whistles” to persuade therapists and surgeons to specify their brands. Many therapists believed such machines were frivolous – by guiding injured limbs by hand, they believed that they could do a better job than any computer. In the first backgrounding session with ProClinica management, Biodex founder and CEO James Reiss noted that, with limited corporate experience in the neuromuscular rehab field, the company had turned for guidance on features and capabilities to a series of key opinion leaders in orthopedic and physical medicine. The result of that collaboration: Those leaders began writing the profession’s first scientific protocols to precisely assess and rehabilitate injured athletes, accident victims, and patients recovering from orthopedic and neurosurgical procedures -- and they were specific to the Biodex system. Discussions with some of those key opinion leaders persuaded Biodex and ProClinica that the real advantage of the Biodex system over competitors was capabilities that encouraged those new protocols. CEO Reiss called it “our clinical advantage” – and the company quickly trademarked the phrase and asked ProClinica to translate it into promotion. Rather than waste time or money creating slick, low-credibility advertising materials, ProClinica proposed interviewing each protocol-writing orthopedist-therapist duo on their technique and example patients...and then creating documents that looked like journal article reprints , following a strict scientific outline: · A detailed summary of the medical condition, and the range of degrees and variants that might commonly present. · Step-by-step instructions on how to use the Biodex multi-joint system to assess and stage patients with that condition, and how to use that assessment to establish a rehabilitation protocol using the Biodex system. · One or more case histories showing how a patient was successfully staged and rehabilitated with the Biodex system, using actual printouts to demonstrate objective improvement. The independent Biodex rep force reported immediate interest from prospects, and asked for sales aids that would help them both understand and rapidly communicate the “Clinical Advantage” – which ProClinica produced both as flip charts and as laptop PowerPoint presentations. Those presentations and printed protocols formed the basis of annual “Biodex Clinical Advantage” seminars, for which users and prospects paid tuition to attend, and hear from both the company and the clinicians who wrote the protocols. One of the first protocols was written by the team therapist and orthopedist of the Philadelphia Eagles, which used the Biodex system not only for rehab, but also for assessing the injury risk of potential draftees. Today, Biodex systems are used by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chicago White Sox, nearly 40 other NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL teams...and 8 of the top 10 college football teams on the 2005 Sports Illustrated list. Biodex dominance in the field grew as its once-larger competitors exited the business. Today, it offers systems for assessing and treating patients with balance disturbance, ambulation disorders, and other conditions -- all based on the company's close work with key opinion leaders grounding its "Clinical Advantage.
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