Next Step Care
Provides remote patient monitoring solutions for musculoskeletal care.
Website: https://nstepcare.com/
Cover Block
PUBLIC
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Next Step Care |
| Tagline | Remote patient monitoring for musculoskeletal care |
| Headquarters | Nanty-Glo, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Business Model | SaaS |
| Industry | Healthtech (Remote Patient Monitoring) |
| Technology Type | Software (Non-AI) |
| Legal Entity | Next Step Care Inc. |
Links
PUBLIC
- Website: https://nstepcare.com/
- Physician Dashboard: https://dashboard.nstepcare.com/
- Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nstepcare.webapp
- Corporate contact page: https://www.nextstepcare.net/contact
Executive Summary
PUBLIC
Next Step Care is a Pennsylvania-based software company. It builds remote patient monitoring (RPM) tools for musculoskeletal (MSK) care. This clinical category has become one of the most expensive line items for self-insured employers. It is also a focus area for value-based orthopedic contracting.
The company's product is accessible through a patient mobile app and a physician web dashboard. It supports patient education, adherence tracking, visual monitoring of recovery, and automated clinical notes [Next Step Care website]. A separate landing page documents a partnership with Assurance Orthopedics. The platform positions as a consumer-accessible channel to orthopedic and sports medicine guidance [Next Step Care website].
Public corporate records identify the operating entity as Next Step Care Inc. It is headquartered in Nanty-Glo, Cambria County, Pennsylvania [Next Step Care contact page, 2025]. Founding team, capitalization, headcount, and customer count are not publicly disclosed at the time of writing. This places the company in the early-visibility tier even though the product is live in the Google Play store [Google Play, 2026].
Over the next 12 to 18 months, key items merit attention.
- Clinical partners. Does Next Step Care disclose additional partners beyond Assurance Orthopedics?
- Institutional round. Does it raise such a round?
- Industry trackers. Do sources like Healthcare IT News or TechTarget list it among named MSK RPM vendors [Healthcare IT News, 2026] [TechTarget, 2026]?
For investors, the bet today rests on a small, focused team. The category carries strong tailwinds.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Confirmed by the Next Step Care website and the Next Step Care Inc. contact page; no third-party press, Crunchbase, or LinkedIn corroboration of team or funding.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Business Model | SaaS |
| Industry / Vertical | Healthtech, MSK remote patient monitoring |
| Technology Type | Software (Non-AI) |
| Geography | United States (Pennsylvania HQ) |
Company Overview
PUBLIC
Next Step Care presents itself in plain terms on its homepage. It offers a remote patient monitoring platform for musculoskeletal care. This combines patient education, adherence tracking, visual monitoring, and automated clinical notes [Next Step Care website].
The corporate entity is registered as Next Step Care Inc. It lists an address at 974 1st Street, Nanty-Glo, in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. A 2025 copyright appears on the contact page [Next Step Care contact page, 2025]. The company's founding date is not publicly disclosed.
The public footprint consists of three connected surfaces. These include the marketing site at nstepcare.com, a physician-facing web application at dashboard.nstepcare.com, and a patient-facing mobile application on Google Play under the package id com.nstepcare.webapp [Google Play, 2026]. A separate landing page on the same domain promotes Assurance Orthopedics. It is described as a service offering access to orthopedic surgeons "at a reasonable cost" through a sign-up flow [Next Step Care website]. Whether Assurance Orthopedics is a sister brand, a customer, or a distribution partner is not clarified in the public materials.
Milestones that can be confirmed from public sources are limited. The product is live and accepting patient sign-ups through an email plus one-time-password flow described on the support page [Next Step Care support page]. There is no public announcement of a funding round, a board, or a leadership team. Investors who want clarity on the company's history will need to request it directly.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Confirmed by the Next Step Care website and the Next Step Care Inc. contact page; founding year and ownership history not publicly available.
Product and Technology
MIXED
The product is a two-sided RPM application. It centers on a postoperative or rehabilitative MSK patient and the physician overseeing recovery.
On the patient side, the mobile app supports education content delivery, adherence tracking against a prescribed protocol, and visual monitoring. Inspection of the marketing copy shows this refers to image or video capture used to assess range of motion or wound status. It also includes automated clinical note generation [Next Step Care website] [PUBLIC]. The patient onboarding flow uses email plus one-time-password. No separate clinic-issued credential is required at sign-up [Next Step Care support page] [PUBLIC].
On the clinician side, a web-based Physician Dashboard surfaces real-time health analytics and patient-level insights. These centralize monitoring across a panel [Next Step Care website] [PUBLIC]. The dashboard sits on a subdomain (dashboard.nstepcare.com) separate from the marketing site. This setup fits a single-page application served as a distinct product surface.
The Google Play listing confirms an Android distribution path. An iOS path is implied by the support page reference to downloading "the app from the App Store." A confirmed App Store URL is not in the captured sources [Next Step Care support page] [PUBLIC].
The public materials describe the technology as software. There is no explicit machine learning or AI claim. This is why the structured taxonomy classifies it as Software (Non-AI).
The phrase "automated clinical notes" could imply templated note generation, structured data capture, or a model-assisted summary. The company does not specify. No public technical documentation, SOC 2 attestation, or HIPAA business-associate disclosure was surfaced in the captured research.
Investors evaluating clinical workflow integration should request specifics. These include EHR connectivity (FHIR, HL7), data residency, and the regulatory posture of the visual-monitoring feature. Depending on its exact use, this can attract FDA software-as-a-medical-device scrutiny.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Confirmed by the Next Step Care website, support page, dashboard, and Google Play listing; technical architecture and compliance posture not publicly available.
Market Research and Opportunity
PUBLIC
Musculoskeletal care is the largest and fastest-growing cost category in US employer-sponsored healthcare. This explains why digital MSK and MSK RPM has drawn sustained investor and operator attention over the last five years.
The cited industry coverage treats connected health devices and remote patient monitoring as an established vendor category. Buyers include health systems, payers, and self-insured employers. They actively evaluate options [Healthcare IT News, 2026].
TechTarget's reporting on emerging virtual care companies frames the segment accordingly. Health organizations assess newer entrants alongside incumbents [TechTarget, 2026]. Both framings indicate a buying motion exists. They do not, however, name Next Step Care among the vendors of note in the captured snippets.
Demand drivers in MSK include the shift of orthopedic procedures to ambulatory surgery centers. Examples are hip and knee arthroplasty, rotator cuff repair, ACL reconstruction. There is also the rise of bundled payment and value-based orthopedic contracting. Postoperative patients often struggle to complete prescribed home exercise programs.
RPM tools improve adherence and surface red flags between visits. These map to economic incentives from bundles and employer direct-contracting with orthopedic centers of excellence.
The Assurance Orthopedics partnership page fits this direct-to-employer or direct-to-consumer orthopedic channel [Next Step Care website].
Adjacent and substitute markets are well populated. Digital MSK programs combine app-based exercise, asynchronous coaching, and sometimes wearables. They compete for employer benefits dollars.
Generalist RPM platforms extend into orthopedic use cases. In-clinic physical therapy networks push their own digital home programs.
Regulatory and reimbursement context matters. CMS RPM CPT codes (99453, 99454, 99457, 99458) created a fee-for-service path. Clinician practices can bill for monitoring time. This tailwind expands the buyer pool beyond risk-bearing entities.
| Sizing claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Connected health devices and RPM treated as an established, vendor-rich procurement category | [Healthcare IT News, 2026] |
| Emerging virtual care companies actively top-of-mind for health organizations | [TechTarget, 2026] |
Analyst takeaway: the captured public research confirms the category is real and being bought. It does not provide a named third-party TAM figure for MSK RPM specifically. Investors should treat any sizing presented by the company as needing independent corroboration from a named report.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Two independent third-party sources confirm the category dynamics; no named TAM figure for MSK RPM was surfaced in the captured research.
Competitive Landscape
MIXED
Next Step Care sits in a segment with several well-funded incumbents. No public source in the captured research names its direct competitors. Competitive analysis proceeds by category rather than side-by-side feature comparison.
The MSK digital health segment has three layers.
The first is the digital MSK benefits layer. Companies here sell to self-insured employers as a covered benefit. They combine app-based exercise programs with coaching. They own the member relationship and report outcomes to benefits teams.
The second layer is surgeon-facing perioperative RPM. Platforms integrate with orthopedic practices and ambulatory surgery centers. They manage pre-surgical optimization and postoperative recovery. Billing occurs under CMS RPM codes or bundled contracts.
The third layer is generalist RPM. Platforms built for cardiac, diabetes, or post-discharge monitoring extend into orthopedic protocols.
Next Step Care's description fits layer two best. Features include education, adherence, visual monitoring, automated clinical notes, physician dashboard [Next Step Care website] [PUBLIC].
Next Step Care's edge is narrowness. A platform purpose-built for MSK protocols can move faster on specific features. Examples are range-of-motion capture, weight-bearing milestones, PROMs collection. This beats a horizontal vendor retrofitting from general RPM.
The Assurance Orthopedics relationship could provide early proof if it becomes referenceable [Next Step Care website] [PUBLIC]. That edge is perishable. Protocol depth is replicable by resourced competitors. Larger players hold capital, sales coverage, and clinical evidence advantages [PRIVATE].
Enterprise distribution exposes Next Step Care most. Selling RPM into orthopedic groups or ASC chains is slow and relationship-driven. It rewards named KOLs, evidence base, enterprise sales. None are publicly visible today [PRIVATE].
The 18-month scenario splits two ways.
Winner-if: Next Step Care converts Assurance Orthopedics and adds partnerships into references. It raises seed on clinician retention metrics.
Loser-if: A larger player ships a comparable module into existing contracts before Next Step Care builds distribution.
Data Accuracy: ORANGE -- Category structure inferred from third-party industry coverage [Healthcare IT News, 2026] [TechTarget, 2026]; no named competitors confirmed in the captured research.
Opportunity
PUBLIC
If Next Step Care executes against the surgeon-facing MSK RPM opportunity, the prize is clear. It could become the default monitoring layer for the orthopedic episode of care. This position compounds as bundled payment expands.
The headline opportunity. The single largest outcome is becoming the embedded RPM and patient-engagement layer for orthopedic practices and ambulatory surgery centers under bundled contracts. Orthopedic volume shifts to ASCs. Risk-taking entities need MSK-specific tooling for adherence and complications [TechTarget, 2026].
Product surfaces match buyer expectations. These include patient app, physician dashboard, clinical notes automation [Next Step Care website].
Growth scenarios.
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why it's plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surgeon-network land-and-expand | Next Step Care wins a handful of mid-sized orthopedic groups, then expands seat-by-seat as surgeons refer the tool internally | A second named clinical partnership beyond Assurance Orthopedics | RPM is treated as an established procurement category by health organizations [Healthcare IT News, 2026] |
| ASC platform partner | The product is bundled by an ambulatory surgery center management company as the default postoperative monitoring layer | An ASC chain partnership announcement | Emerging virtual care vendors are top-of-mind for health organizations evaluating new tools [TechTarget, 2026] |
| Direct-to-consumer orthopedic channel | The Assurance Orthopedics motion expands into a consumer-facing access product co-marketed with employer benefits | Employer pilot disclosure | The Assurance Orthopedics page already frames orthopedic access as a consumer service [Next Step Care website] |
What compounding looks like. The flywheel in surgeon-facing RPM is reference-driven. One adopting group shortens sales cycles for the next. Additional protocols raise switching costs and lower onboarding.
Surgeon NPS drives acquisition if notes save time. No public evidence shows this spinning at scale. Assurance Orthopedics is the only visible relationship [Next Step Care website].
The size of the win. A credible comparable is the digital MSK category history. Leaders raised hundreds of millions against employer/provider motion. Numeric details are omitted here.
Realistic ambition over five to seven years: defensible mid-tier surgeon-facing platform. It would have predictable revenue and strategic exit to consolidator. This depends on undisclosed milestones.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Category dynamics confirmed by [Healthcare IT News, 2026] and [TechTarget, 2026]; company-specific traction supporting these scenarios is not publicly available.
Sources
PUBLIC
[Next Step Care] Next Step Care homepage | https://nstepcare.com/
[Next Step Care] Next Step Care Support | https://nstepcare.com/support/
[Next Step Care] Elite Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Guidance, Assurance Orthopedics | https://nstepcare.com/assurance-orthopedics/
[Next Step Care] Physician Dashboard | https://dashboard.nstepcare.com/
[Next Step Care] Physician Dashboard, patient view | https://dashboard.nstepcare.com/patient/
[Google Play, 2026] Next Step Care for Patients, Android app listing | https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nstepcare.webapp
[Healthcare IT News, 2026] A guide to connected health device and remote patient monitoring vendors | https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/guide-connected-health-device-and-remote-patient-monitoring-vendors
[TechTarget, 2026] Which Emerging Virtual Care Companies are Top-of-Mind for Health Orgs? | https://www.techtarget.com/virtualhealthcare/feature/Which-Emerging-Virtual-Care-Companies-are-Top-of-Mind-for-Health-Orgs
[Next Step Care, 2025] Contact, Next Step Care Inc. corporate address | https://www.nextstepcare.net/contact
Articles about Next Step Care
- Next Step Care Wants the Post-Op Knee Patient on a Phone, Not a Clipboard — The musculoskeletal monitoring startup is selling surgeons a dashboard that watches recovery between visits and writes the clinical note for them.