pt Interview on the occasion of the 20th anniversary / In conversation with Jessica Berner Egen and Christian Egen
Modern physiotherapy requires sound diagnostics. There are now numerous options for this. It is fundamentally very important that different areas are covered and that the integrated systems are scientifically evaluated. Jessica Berner Egen and Christian Egen have been carrying out development work in this area for 20 years now.
Reading time: approx. 7 minutes
Question: The company's history began in 2002 with the founding of SportMed AG. How did this come about and what were the key milestones?
Christian Egen (CE): The original idea was a concept for content-related collaboration between doctors, therapists and health-orientated facilities. However, we were far too early with this digital approach in 2002. Of the original partners, I was the one responsible for the technical development. It was a challenge to make this commercially successful. In principle, we worked for ten years on the technical development of connecting measuring devices and software solutions in the medical sector. In doing so, we also focussed primarily on customers and patients who have a need for good explanations. So we always had a didactic perspective. In the beginning, we developed software that was incorporated into other products - some of which are still associated with us today. In the first ten years of our company's history, we first became technical experts in this particular area of measurement technology.
Jessica Berner EgenAs early as 2003, we were partners with Idiag in the development of the "MediMouse" and are still closely associated with the company today. In 2009, we decided to launch our first own product on the market. In 2012, the time had come and we presented our own muscular mobility analysis, mobee® fit. That was at the FIBO trade fair in Essen. The medical or therapeutic version of this measurement method, mobee® med, followed a year later.
Click here and go directly to mobee® fit
Christian Egen: Another important step was to create a software platform for our own products in order to optimise the use and integration of the various processes - although we only really understood the importance of this much later. We believe that modularity and the integration of many systems are very important. And we already changed our view of the addressees in 2009. Initially, we focussed the evaluations and the associated explanations on the experts. The therapists then had to pass these interpretations on to the patients or clients. We have moved away from this perspective and placed the end user at the centre of further developments. The didactic recipients of the analyses have therefore been the patients or customers for many years now. This is the target group whose compliance is to be increased by presenting the results in an appealing and, above all, understandable way.
Question: Your platform for digital diagnostics for prevention and health promotion has been around since 2015. What was and is important to you in its development?
Jessica Berner EgenThe idea was already in our heads in 2009, but with two products we could not yet speak of a platform. We therefore defined 2015 as the birth of the platform with the integration of the third product (BackScan). We wanted to move away from isolated solutions and be able to work with the various diagnostic options under one technological umbrella. Usability is increasingly important - it has now become a self-evident requirement - and we have been pursuing this aim for many years. From the very beginning, we wanted to minimise any training hurdles as much as possible.
The holistic nature of the solution is also very important to us. We can now look at many different subject areas together and, as we all know, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We want to focus even more on this fusion of important areas of analysis in the future. Stress and resilience diagnostics in particular can be combined very well with movement and body analyses.
Click here to go directly to the stress pilot®pro
We serve many target groups - not only therapists, but also fitness studios, companies (keyword: company health management) and, more recently, retirement homes - and therefore have to take different requirements into account. This heterogeneity is a challenge that we are happy to face every day.
Question: Who or which institutions are involved in scientific projects with and on the system?
Jessica Berner EgenCurrent collaborations exist with the Technical University of Munich, the German Football Association (DFB) in cooperation with the Berufskolleg Halle, the University of Gothenburg, the Technical University of Darmstadt and historically also with the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich, as the validation study for our mobility measurement was carried out there. Most of the scientific projects with our systems are based in professional or ambitious recreational sport. The focus of these studies is often on assessing the risk of injury due to mobility deficits and so on. In addition, our partner companies are also involved in various studies with their respective products.
DFB Project 2019/ Vocational College Halle
Christian Egen: It is often the case with athletes that training does not lead to a healthy musculoskeletal system. On the contrary, it is under a lot of strain. Athletes often train at the limit and this has consequences for the risk of injury. Minimising this is an important goal of many research projects and our systems are often used for this purpose.
Question: What different goals are your customers pursuing with the purchase of diagnostics?
Jessica Berner EgenIt is well known that it is difficult for a physiotherapy practice to survive economically on health insurance alone. An important goal is therefore to transfer patients to the self-payer sector once the prescription has been finalised. This works particularly well if I can objectively identify deficits during the therapy phase. I can then continue to work on these in a targeted manner in a training programme on a self-pay basis. These options also contribute to customer loyalty. With diagnostics, therapists can demonstrate and visualise successes in the course of treatment and training - this motivates regular activity.
We have also already had application scenarios in the evaluation of necessary therapy costs and the appropriateness of prescriptions. Physiotherapists also increasingly want to position themselves as professional healthcare providers. Those who want to realign and modernise themselves are happy to rely on our objective diagnostic systems. Another goal is the establishment of so-called diagnostic profit centres in larger healthcare facilities with several specialists and physiotherapists under one roof. Ultimately, everyone involved can benefit from this integration.
Team mobee360 at the Chiropractic Congress Düsseldorf 2021
Christian Egen: With diagnostics, the practice can position itself better economically, further improve the positive relationship with patients and strengthen loyalty to the organisation in the long term. In addition, new fields of activity can be opened up, including occupational health management and specific services for senior citizens. This allows facilities to break out of the traditional revenue model and explore new avenues. And if we think about the shortage of specialists in physiotherapy, the implementation of diagnostic systems also opens up new potential for employing staff from other specialist areas (sports scientists, fitness economists, etc.). These colleagues can, for example, carry out professional diagnostics in the practice to support active, evidence-based physiotherapy. All of these aspects are among the most important objectives when organisations acquire diagnostic systems.
Question: The platform for digital diagnostics already covers a wide range of health screening topics. What extensions are you planning and how will they contribute to the holistic nature of your solution?
Jessica Berner EgenWe are currently working in six different subject areas, including stress analysis and management, mobility analysis, mobility in seniors, body composition and data, posture and spinal function, and body stability and balance. We will expand the platform to eight aspects by the beginning of 2023. New modules are planned for Metabolic analysis and Performance.
Christian Egen: There is a great demand for this, our customers give us feedback and express wishes for new modules. The new areas integrate respiratory gas analysis and this is a very important addition for anyone who wants to offer professional nutritional counselling in combination with training planning. Another very important area is the further development of data protection-compliant solutions that go beyond a local infrastructure. We are therefore working on an online solution that offers our customers additional and modern communication channels on the one hand and fulfils the important requirements of data protection when working with sensitive health data on the other.
Question. The therapy, fitness and health markets are continuing to grow together. How are you responding to this trend?
Jessica Berner EgenDue to the aforementioned heterogeneity of our various target groups, this development is not a challenge for us. We have already been offering products for a broad spectrum for years. The fact that the markets are converging is actually a positive thing for us, as the possibilities for utilisation are becoming ever greater. Thanks to the modular structure, we can also respond very individually to the needs of the respective organisation. We are now also receiving enquiries from mental coaches and specialised health and nutrition consultants who want to make use of these holistic evaluations based on their focus.
Christian Egen: We are seeing our customers increasingly leaving the old paths and creating new chains of impact. For example, it is also an option for physiotherapists to be diagnostic service providers for medical specialists or to become involved in occupational health management. We can provide support for all of these options.
Jessica Berner EgenAnd across all areas, improving and supporting communication and information options is important. That was our wish from the outset and is a central aspect in all areas. We are able to differentiate ourselves from other providers because we have integrated reliable and scientifically validated systems into our platform. In this way, we enable serious providers to work in a serious manner.
We have also recently acquired two new co-partners, Dr Frank Eger and Gaby Fritz, who have invested in SportMed through their company "PURE Physio Südwest GmbH". Thanks to their many years of entrepreneurial experience in the fitness, physio and rehab sectors, they not only bring us a seven-figure investment, but also numerous contacts and synergies. As a result, we now also have a physiotherapy-relevant impact from the ownership side and are very well positioned for the future.
The questions were asked by Dr Tanja Boßmann
Jessica Berner Egen
She studied English, Italian and economics at Saarland University, followed by a degree in business law (LL.M.) at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. Jessica Berner Egen is Managing Director at mobee360.
berner_egen@sportmed.eu
Christian Egen
He studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University and is Technical Director at mobee360.
egen@sportmed.eu
