Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Advancing Orthopedic Care Through Movement Intelligence and Data with Rob Heiser & Dr. James Voos

Transcript

Advancing Orthopedic Care Through Movement Intelligence and Data with Rob Heiser & Dr. James Voos · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  This is where health care leadership comes together.
• 0:04
  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
• 0:07
  hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
• 0:10
  speakers to Chicago
• 0:12
  April.
• 0:14
  This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
• 0:17
  Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
• 0:20
  w Bush. For the agenda and event details,
• 0:22
  visit beckershospitalreview.com
• 0:25
  and click on the events tab in the
• 0:26
  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
• 0:29
  in Chicago.
• 0:31
  This is Scott Becker with the Beckers Health
• 0:34
  Care Podcast. I am thrilled today to be
• 0:36
  joined by two fascinating leaders who are really
• 0:39
  leaders in health care and and and health
• 0:41
  care delivery.
• 0:42
  We're joined by Rob Heizer, the chief executive
• 0:45
  officer of UGen Health.
• 0:47
  We're also joined by doctor James Vues. James
• 0:50
  Vues is medical advisor, University Hospitals of Cleveland,
• 0:54
  head of orthopedics
• 0:56
  at
• 0:57
  also team physician for the Cleveland Browns and
• 1:00
  president of the NFL Physicians Association.
• 1:03
  We will not spend the time today talking
• 1:05
  about the Cleveland Browns quarterback situation or Sanders
• 1:09
  making it as an alternate or or to
• 1:10
  the Pro Bowl that will not tee PGA's
• 1:13
  discussion. I promise.
• 1:15
  Rob and doctor Vuce, can I ask the
• 1:16
  two of you to take a moment to
• 1:18
  introduce yourself? Sure. Go ahead, doctor Vuce. I'll
• 1:20
  let you go first.
• 1:22
  Hey, Scott. Thank you for, very much for
• 1:24
  the opportunity to to speak on the podcast
• 1:26
  today. And,
• 1:28
  today, I'm I'm,
• 1:30
  working with you, Jen, and really culminating
• 1:33
  all of the hats we wear,
• 1:35
  both as a practicing sports medicine orthopedic surgeon
• 1:38
  who takes care of, all sorts of sports
• 1:40
  related injuries,
• 1:42
  a researcher leading our research division at University
• 1:46
  Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University,
• 1:49
  as well as,
• 1:50
  working with the NFL physician society and the
• 1:53
  Cleveland Browns. So it's a nice opportunity
• 1:55
  with a a product,
• 1:57
  like this to bring all of those hats
• 2:00
  together, with an opportunity to help, to perform
• 2:03
  research, to help our professional athletes, as well
• 2:06
  as our regular weekend warriors. So thank you
• 2:08
  for the opportunity to be here.
• 2:09
  Thank you. And what people not everybody realizes
• 2:12
  that University
• 2:13
  Hospitals is one of the leaders in the
• 2:15
  country in in NIH grants and research, one
• 2:18
  of the great research institutions in the world.
• 2:21
  Thank you so much. Rob, can you take
• 2:23
  a moment and introduce yourself as well?
• 2:25
  Sure. I'm I'm Rob Heizer. I'm the chairman
• 2:28
  and CEO of UGen.
• 2:29
  My career has really been focused on building
• 2:31
  companies
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  with large datasets and corresponding
• 2:35
  software.
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  My last company was in the fintech space.
• 2:38
  We really focused on structuring and standardized
• 2:40
  thing the world's payment data.
• 2:43
  I sold that business back in 2022,
• 2:45
  but, you know, my new career here at
• 2:47
  UGen,
• 2:48
  we're focused on our movement intelligence platform, and
• 2:51
  that leverages,
• 2:52
  you know, two or more of the UGen
• 2:54
  x y z movement sensors on the patient
• 2:56
  to guide and correct their movements to a
• 2:58
  clinical standard.
• 3:00
  Today, we have over a 150
• 3:01
  exercises and growing in our application that can
• 3:04
  that can represent an infinite number of configurations
• 3:06
  by the clinician
• 3:08
  with our easy to use software. And as
• 3:10
  you know, my background is data. The data
• 3:12
  that comes off these devices is so valuable,
• 3:14
  and and we'll talk about that later in
• 3:16
  the podcast. But I really appreciate you having
• 3:18
  me and, doctor Bruce on the podcast, and
• 3:20
  it's a pleasure being here.
• 3:23
  Thank you so much. And let let me
• 3:24
  ask you this first, Rob. What is the
• 3:26
  prop what is the problem or the issue
• 3:29
  that UGen is intending to solve for? What
• 3:32
  is the core of what UGen delivers and
• 3:34
  does?
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  Well, it's really the you know, what we're
• 3:37
  really focused on is better outcomes and better
• 3:39
  workplace efficiencies. So if you think about,
• 3:41
  what happens in the market today, one of
• 3:43
  the maybe largest problem is these prior authorizations.
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  You know, we I hear that over and
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  over and over again.
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  And, you know, if you think about the
• 3:51
  time it takes from a a clinician that
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  could be a surgeon, a PA, a,
• 3:56
  a nurse
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  to both, you know, collect the data, identify
• 4:01
  and collect all of that data,
• 4:03
  and then also submit it to insurance to
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  get the authorization,
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  that's an enormous amount of time. But to
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  really have that work, you need objective data.
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  And, you know, I talked about my background
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  being in the the data industry.
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  Our sensors are what makes that valuable, and
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  we have to standardize the movement, but not
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  just standardize the movement. We have to correct
• 4:21
  the movement as the patient's in rep. And
• 4:24
  then we also track several things about that.
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  We could track range of motion. We could
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  track,
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  they have the ability to, you know, add
• 4:31
  a pain score if they have it. There's
• 4:33
  problems built in. And and that's really what
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  we're focused on is that standardizing
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  that movement data
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  and creating that movement intelligent platform so you
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  can really leverage the ability
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  to help your patients
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  get better faster because quality movement equals quality
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  recovery. And we see that over and over
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  with, you know, the trials we're running and
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  and and our and our customers that we're
• 4:55
  working with today.
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  And having someone as an adviser like doctor
• 4:59
  Vuce helps us really understand where we should
• 5:01
  be focused in the right areas,
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  and and that's that's a testament to what
• 5:05
  has done for us as a partner.
• 5:08
  Thank you. And then and doctor Vuce, tell
• 5:10
  us sort of, what excites you about UGen
• 5:13
  and your interaction here? You've got so many
• 5:15
  magnificent things going on.
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  Tell us why this is so exciting and
• 5:19
  interesting to you.
• 5:21
  Yeah. We,
• 5:23
  engaged with UHN through our,
• 5:26
  Haslam Sports Innovation Center platform,
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  which has really allowed us to explore and
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  invest,
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  and,
• 5:34
  do research alongside innovative companies.
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  So we really want to enter the market
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  really being the voice of reason, being willing
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  to
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  put the scientific rigor and and,
• 5:46
  put, put it to the test of anything
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  that we are going to endorse and get
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  involved with. And we've seen,
• 5:52
  tons and tons of devices, and UGen was
• 5:54
  one that really caught our eye just from
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  the sophistication
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  of the platform as well as the,
• 6:00
  quality of movement.
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  And at the core of all of this
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  really is making sure the patient has the
• 6:06
  optimal outcome
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  and at a minimum that there is no
• 6:09
  no change in their outcome from working directly
• 6:12
  with a physical therapist
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  and the potential to,
• 6:15
  increase or or improve their outcome. So that
• 6:18
  was number one, and this was one of
• 6:20
  the first devices that we saw there is
• 6:22
  there we can maintain that quality of care
• 6:25
  with the fortunate
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  added
• 6:27
  advantage of this greatly increases the the, throughput
• 6:31
  and the efficiency of our providers, of our
• 6:34
  physical therapist and athletic trainers who are already
• 6:37
  overwhelmed with patients. So I feel very confident
• 6:40
  this is going to increase access to care
• 6:42
  for our patients,
• 6:44
  going to,
• 6:45
  relieve our physical therapists who have an incredible
• 6:48
  amount of, administrative
• 6:50
  burden on them when they're caring for our
• 6:52
  patients.
• 6:53
  So it's one of those, types of technologies
• 6:55
  that helps on both sides. And to me,
• 6:57
  that's very appealing,
• 6:59
  to keep, when when both sides are winning
• 7:02
  from that standpoint.
• 7:03
  Doctor Fruce, fantastic. Let me ask you this
• 7:05
  question, doctor Fruce.
• 7:07
  What advice would you give to emerging leaders
• 7:09
  in orthopedics,
• 7:10
  people that wanna have great careers in orthopedics?
• 7:13
  Any thoughts on what advice you'd give to
• 7:14
  emerging leaders, emerging physicians?
• 7:17
  Yeah. It's a great question. And I I
• 7:19
  often use the analogy. A lot of our,
• 7:22
  physicians start in practice, and they say, oh,
• 7:24
  I just wanna put my head down and
• 7:25
  work and really,
• 7:27
  establish my practice. And I would encourage
• 7:30
  everyone in medicine to to really we wanted
• 7:33
  we wanna really work hard and focus on
• 7:34
  our practice, but encourage everyone to keep their
• 7:36
  head up
• 7:37
  because there's so much going on, so much
• 7:40
  innovation going on around us that you want
• 7:42
  to continue to learn. And even if you
• 7:44
  may not adopt new technology right away, I
• 7:47
  think it's imperative that we continue to understand
• 7:49
  and
• 7:50
  know,
• 7:51
  what technology is out there. That way you're
• 7:54
  always aware of the better ways to take
• 7:56
  care of your patients, and you're not gonna
• 7:57
  blink and miss out.
• 7:59
  No. Fantastic.
• 8:01
  And and, Rob, let me ask you a
• 8:02
  similar question.
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  What advice would you give to business leaders
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  and founders,
• 8:07
  emerging business leaders, emerging c suite leaders?
• 8:10
  What advice do you do you give to
• 8:12
  leaders?
• 8:13
  I believe
• 8:14
  everybody should be focused on the high quality
• 8:16
  standardized datasets. I mean, if you think about
• 8:19
  how the world is changing with,
• 8:21
  AI
• 8:22
  and
• 8:23
  the acceleration of software development,
• 8:26
  through, you know, tools like Claude and and
• 8:29
  code from OpenAI,
• 8:32
  starting with a really good dataset,
• 8:34
  that's standardized, that can be easily ingested by
• 8:37
  these these AI tools
• 8:39
  will really be what the future holds in
• 8:41
  terms of how you get, you know, better
• 8:43
  industry intelligence or workplace efficiencies
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  or even in health care. I mean, the
• 8:48
  whole this whole thing for better outcomes and
• 8:51
  better care,
• 8:52
  that dataset means a lot, and that's that's
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  really why my my entire career has been
• 8:57
  focused on high quality standardized data.
• 9:01
  Thank you. Let me ask you this question.
• 9:02
  I'll ask each of you this question. The
• 9:04
  the single thing you're most excited about or
• 9:06
  focused on this year. Let me ask you
• 9:08
  each of that question starting with Rob and
• 9:10
  then doctor Moose.
• 9:12
  Alright. I tell you, I'm I'm really excited
• 9:13
  about the better outcomes for patients.
• 9:16
  Obviously, there's a lot of problems when you
• 9:17
  you know, I'm entering the health care industry.
• 9:20
  This is my second year in this industry.
• 9:22
  I've not been in this industry prior.
• 9:25
  And seeing there's a lot of kind of
• 9:27
  workplace
• 9:28
  inefficiencies
• 9:29
  that happen. And most of that comes from
• 9:32
  kind of the struggle between payers and providers.
• 9:35
  And I think having really good objective data
• 9:39
  that's not just self reported, that's not just,
• 9:43
  you know, reviewed and and dictated, but having
• 9:46
  actual true
• 9:48
  objective data that comes directly from the patient,
• 9:50
  I think, is very valuable. I'm super excited
• 9:52
  about that and and how that can, one,
• 9:54
  change outcomes
• 9:56
  because it's the quality of the data. And
• 9:57
  when you think about what Ugen is trying
• 9:58
  to do around the quality of movement in
• 10:01
  the in the in the movement correction around
• 10:03
  a clinical standard,
• 10:05
  but having that, you know, be able to,
• 10:07
  you know, that all that data exhaust that
• 10:09
  comes from these movement sensors,
• 10:12
  it creates so much value in in workplace
• 10:15
  efficiency
• 10:16
  and better outcomes
• 10:18
  and and and, you know, better understanding what
• 10:21
  patients need the the the the most attention
• 10:24
  and when if they have an issue at
• 10:26
  post surgery.
• 10:27
  And and, really, that's gonna you want you
• 10:29
  want people like James Vuce
• 10:31
  focused on helping more people,
• 10:34
  you know, not not trying to manage, you
• 10:37
  know, post surgery patients.
• 10:39
  You know, I'm I'm lucky enough,
• 10:41
  that doctor Voos did a surgery for one
• 10:43
  of my children in the last thirty days,
• 10:45
  and he's a student at Ohio State. And
• 10:47
  having the ability to have that outreach to
• 10:49
  have him go to Ohio State and be
• 10:50
  able to recover without being in Northeast Ohio
• 10:53
  at the same time is very valuable.
• 10:56
  And let me ask you the important question.
• 10:59
  When Ohio State plays Michigan,
• 11:02
  where are your loyalties at?
• 11:05
  Well, I have two kids that are currently
• 11:07
  enrolled in Ohio State. I live in Ohio,
• 11:08
  so it's definitely Ohio State.
• 11:11
  Ohio. There you go. Doctor Foose, what are
• 11:14
  you most focused on and excited about this
• 11:16
  year?
• 11:17
  There's two pathways.
• 11:19
  One is the basic science pathway where we're
• 11:21
  doing a lot of biologics and tissue engineering.
• 11:25
  But the second is here in the space
• 11:27
  of wearable technology,
• 11:29
  and this has me incredibly excited because what
• 11:31
  we're doing at UGen really has the ability
• 11:34
  to truly impact how we deliver care.
• 11:37
  And we often use the term living lab,
• 11:40
  and that means we're trying to do more
• 11:42
  and more to reach out and meet our
• 11:44
  patients,
• 11:46
  where they're at. So in their, sporting environment
• 11:50
  or when they can work out at home.
• 11:52
  And UGEN is one of those technologies that
• 11:55
  helps us to get outside of the walls
• 11:57
  of the hospital
• 11:59
  and meet patients where they're at and get
• 12:01
  that same quality,
• 12:03
  of movement and and instruction and data. So
• 12:06
  very exciting when we, come across the technology
• 12:09
  that can truly change the way we deliver
• 12:11
  care.
• 12:12
  Thank you very, very much. Rob, doctor Vuce,
• 12:15
  I wanna thank you both so much for
• 12:16
  joining us today on the Becker's Healthcare podcast.
• 12:19
  What a pleasure to visit with you both.
• 12:21
  Great entrepreneurs, great leaders, great physician. Thank you
• 12:24
  so much for joining us today. Thank you
• 12:26
  folks very, very much.
• 12:27
  K. Thank you. Thank you.