What six weeks of hybrid MSK care looks like in the real world

There's no shortage of digital health programs promising to transform member outcomes.

What's rarer is a program that tests its claims in messy, real-world conditions — not a cherry-picked research cohort — and publishes what actually happened.

That's what Project Mobilise set out to do.

What Project Mobilise was

Project Mobilise was a six-week pilot designed to capture real-world evidence on hybrid musculoskeletal care. Beyond The Clinic partnered with organisations across private health, regional and community-based settings, and community physiotherapy practices to deliver the program and measure what changed.

The participant profile looked like everyday clinical practice — not a best-case scenario.

Average age was 58. Average BMI was 30.6. Average baseline pain intensity was 4.7 out of 10. Participants ranged from 21 to 86 years old, and many were managing multiple health factors alongside their MSK condition.

Across the pilot, 220 participants enrolled via the Joint Health Profile — a validated screening tool that identifies MSK risk and matches participants to an appropriate care pathway.

What the program actually delivered

Every participant completed the Joint Health Profile first, establishing a clinical baseline and triaging them into one of four risk profiles: Strong and Stable, Sustaining Mobility, Mobility Risk, or High Alert.

The results were notable. Around 77% of the full cohort showed some degree of functional limitation. Around 10% sat in the highest risk category, flagging the need for a more intensive or surgical pathway.

This is the point of screening up front. It means care is matched to need from day one — not retrofitted after symptoms escalate.

From screening, participants moved into the JointFit app and were supported by Beyond The Clinic's physiotherapists via telehealth. The program combined structured education, guided exercise with motion tracking, goal setting, and proactive clinician check-ins.

The numbers worth paying attention to

For health fund procurement teams evaluating a digital MSK program, there are a few metrics that matter most: does the program engage members, does it keep them engaged, and does it produce clinical results?

Here's what Project Mobilise found.

Activation and attendance

87% of participants activated the JointFit app. 77.6% attended telehealth appointments with a physiotherapist. 83% of respondents said the goal-setting discussion helped them.

These are not typical digital health figures. Most digital-only programs see drop-off rates of 50–80% within the first two weeks.

Retention

87.7% of enrolled participants were retained through the full six-week program window. Among those who had actually commenced the program — not just enrolled — the opt-out rate was just 4%.

The takeaway is straightforward. The hybrid model holds attention once someone starts. The biggest opportunity for improvement is reducing the friction between completing the screening tool and activating the program.

Clinical outcomes

Over six weeks:

• 71% of participants increased their daily step count, with an average increase of 2,242 steps per day.
• 60% showed meaningful improvement in pain, based on self-reported pain scores.
• 93% maintained or improved their sit-to-stand performance, with 50% achieving measurable functional improvement.

These are early pilot results. They're not drawn from a randomised controlled trial and shouldn't be extrapolated as such. But they do reflect real change in a real-world cohort with meaningful baseline limitations.

Patient experience

Net Promoter Score for the physiotherapist experience averaged 9.1 out of 10.

That figure matters beyond member satisfaction. High NPS in a health program correlates with completion rates, referrals, and the likelihood that members will seek care earlier next time rather than waiting.

What the surgical stream showed

Project Mobilise also included an emerging surgical cohort — members preparing for or recovering from joint replacement surgery.

Onboarding rate in the surgical cohort was 88.2%. Program retention was 90.0%. Among the combined public and private surgical cohorts, 100% of patients reported feeling more confident prior to surgery.

57% of surgical participants achieved their health goals within the program window. The remaining 43% were making active progress.

Early pain improvement data from the surgical subgroup showed 4 out of 5 patients demonstrating improvement by six weeks post-operatively compared with their pre-operative baseline.

For health funds, this stream is significant. Surgical complications and extended rehabilitation are among the most expensive outcomes in orthopaedic care. A program that improves pre-surgical function, supports rehabilitation adherence, and reduces post-operative anxiety has a direct line to claims costs.

What health funds should take away

Project Mobilise wasn't designed to produce perfect research. It was designed to test a practical question: does hybrid MSK care work when real people actually use it?

The early answer is yes — with clear conditions.

The model works when screening and triage happens up front. It works when onboarding is actively supported rather than assumed. And it works when clinician touchpoints are used strategically to build confidence and momentum.

It doesn't work as a digital-only program or a phone line. The human element isn't a nice-to-have — it's what drives the retention figures that make the clinical outcomes possible.

For health fund partners, the model is designed to integrate into existing member pathways — identifying at-risk members through the Joint Health Profile, triaging them into appropriate care streams, and producing measurable outcomes data that connects to your reporting needs.

You can see the full Project Mobilise outcomes report — including participant profiles, clinical outcome data, and what we'll improve as we scale — on our resources page.

If you're evaluating MSK programs for your member base and want to understand how the model could work for your fund, we'd welcome the conversation.