Most Americans do not get enough physical activity to meet national recommendations, and rates are even lower among people living with chronic health conditions or disabilities. A new review published in PM&R suggests that combining routine physical activity screening with a digital health platform called ExerciseRx® could help healthcare professionals recognize patients who may benefit from more physical activity and provide personalized exercise guidance beyond the clinic.
Clinical Professor Cindy Lin, MD, and Research Coordinator Theresa Kehne, BA, co-authored the review “Lifestyle medicine innovations: Physical activity assessment in patient care and implementation of a digital health platform to support healthier movement.” Dr. Lin holds the Endowed Professorship in Sports and Exercise Medicine in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the UW School of Medicine and is director of The Sports Institute.
The paper describes efforts to make physical activity a routine part of clinical care by using a Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS), a two-question assessment. The tool helps healthcare professionals recognize patients who are not meeting national physical activity recommendations and could benefit from exercise counseling and support.
Researchers found that most patients did not meet recommended activity levels. The findings also showed that patients who reported higher levels of physical activity were less likely to visit the emergency department or be hospitalized. This held true even after accounting for factors such as age, body mass index, and medical conditions.
The review also introduces ExerciseRx, a platform developed through a collaboration between The Sports Institute and the University of Washington Ubiquitous Computing Lab. The system combines smartphone and wearable-device activity tracking, personalized goals, and a dashboard that helps clinicians see patient progress. Unlike many consumer-focused health apps, the ExerciseRx platform was designed to help clinicians track patients’ activity levels and provide personalized exercise recommendations for wellness support.
The team has also developed artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to better personalize activities at scale. Researchers say the goal is to help patients stay engaged with exercise programs between visits while giving clinicians useful information about their progress.
Early studies found that ExerciseRx earned high marks from participants and increased their physical activity. Ongoing research is evaluating ExerciseRx in several populations, including adolescents with cerebral palsy, people with multiple sclerosis, patients undergoing cancer treatment, and individuals with rheumatologic conditions.
The authors concluded that routine physical activity screening and digital tools such as ExerciseRx could help find patients who are not getting enough physical activity and connect them with personalized exercise support.