PT Tele-mentoring with the HandTutor system contributes to standardization

In the December edition of Stroke, http://bit.ly/eeasb3 Dr Sullivan and her team from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and the University of Florida and the Gainesville Veterans Administration Hospital report on a clinical study to determine the reliability of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Sensorimotor Function comparing the fidelity of motor (total, upper extremity, and lower extremity subscores) and sensory (total, light touch, and proprioception subscores) across 5 regional clinical sites.

The HandTutor system incorporates evaluations on the patient’s movement impairments. Therapists are trained on the correct protocol for using these evaluations and this ensures fidelity in outcome measurements which allows for meaningful comparisons of patient physical rehabilitation outcome. The HandTutor system thus allows for standardization in OT and PT measurement method training. Because the HandTutor system allows for tele-rehabilitation, the OT and PT can be taught the correct protocol through tele-mentoring.