For a patient six weeks out from a rotator cuff repair or a total knee arthroplasty, the hardest part of recovery is rarely the surgery itself. It is the long, lonely middle: the home exercise program nobody watches, the swelling that may or may not be normal, the suspicion that a missed rep today will cost a degree of flexion next month. Next Step Care is building software for exactly that gap. It pitches surgeons and orthopedic practices a remote monitoring system that follows musculoskeletal patients from discharge through rehabilitation. It feeds what it sees back into the clinic.
The company describes its product as a remote patient monitoring platform for musculoskeletal care. Modules cover patient education, adherence tracking, visual monitoring, automated clinical notes [Next Step Care]. On the clinician side, a physician dashboard surfaces real-time health analytics and insights [Next Step Care].
In practice, patients use a mobile app on Google Play, Next Step Care for Patients [Google Play, 2026]. They log exercises, submit video. Surgeons or therapists get structured recovery data instead of waiting for visits.
The bet
The wedge is narrow, defensible if it holds. Generalist RPM vendors chase chronic conditions. These have mature CPT codes, devices (cuffs, scales, CGMs).
Musculoskeletal recovery was paper handouts, exercise sheets, calls. Next Step Care pitches purpose-built: video range-of-motion, adherence scoring, drafted notes surgeons sign [Next Step Care].
The company experiments direct-to-patient via Assurance Orthopedics. Marketed on own domain, it offers orthopedic guidance sans referrals [Next Step Care]. This adds B2C to B2B.
Why the category could be big
Musculoskeletal care drives American medicine costs. Aging population, joint replacements, employer steering to networks.
Connected-health groups MSK monitoring with RPM [Healthcare IT News, 2026]. TechTarget notes health-system interest in service-line virtual care [TechTarget, 2026]. Bundles reward ED avoidance, PT track.
Standard care analog: printed booklet, follow-up, PT referral maybe skipped. Self-report adherence. Clinic goniometer. Complications on call, often not.
Feedback compression has clinical, economic case. Provided no doc burden. Automated notes respond [Next Step Care].
What the regulatory picture looks like
Patient data, video, metrics to clinician interpretation: lighter tier than diagnostic. FDA discretion on decision support, wellness software allows shipping sans De Novo/510(k). No autonomous claims.
Materials: analytics for clinicians [Next Step Care]. Lighter posture. Algorithmic flagging (infection, DVT) invites formal path.
The honest counterfactual
RPM crowded, systems selective on point solutions [TechTarget, 2026]. MSK-only proves depth beats horizontal convenience.
Bull: orthopedic workflows differ (video ROM, protocols) from chronic [Healthcare IT News, 2026]. Purpose-built wins fit. Notes adopted bottom-up by charting-fatigued surgeons [Next Step Care].
What to watch
Next twelve months: proof points. Questions: orthopedic customers? Assurance volume? Peer-reviewed outcomes (faster recovery, more PT, fewer complications)?
Outcomes, not screenshots, decide.
Disease: MSK injury, post-op. Patient: couch, ice, sheet, doubt. Scale answer: surgeons notice.
Pulse Raman, Health and Bio Correspondent