NCT07201116

Health-GIS Platform for Hip Replacement Rehabilitation Coordination

Effectiveness of a Geographic Information System-Integrated Mobile Platform for Coordinating Early Stage Rehabilitation After Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 142 (actual)
• Sponsor: Tulip Medicine · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study tests whether a mobile phone app with mapping technology can help patients find rehabilitation services faster after hip replacement surgery. After having their hip replaced, patients typically need several months of physical therapy to recover fully. However, many patients face long waiting times or don't know where to find rehabilitation services near them. In this study, half of the patients will use a new mobile app that shows rehabilitation centers on a map, displays available appointment times, and allows patients to compare services and costs. The other half will receive standard care, where they must contact their family doctor to help find rehabilitation services. The study will measure how quickly patients start rehabilitation after leaving the hospital, how well their hip functions after treatment, their quality of life, and pain levels. The investigators will also look at whether the app is easy to use.

Detailed description

Total hip arthroplasty (hip replacement) is one of the most successful surgical procedures in modern orthopedics, with over 528 million people worldwide affected by osteoarthritis requiring joint replacement. The demand is projected to increase dramatically: 71% growth in the US by 2030 (635,000 procedures), 198% growth in Australia by 2046 (94,086 procedures), and 99-147% growth in Japan by 2030 depending on demographic groups. Success of hip replacement surgery largely depends on timely access to rehabilitation services, particularly during the early recovery period (first 3-6 months post-surgery). Current medical rehabilitation principles emphasize early initiation, continuity, and seamless care coordination to optimize clinical outcomes. However, healthcare systems worldwide face significant challenges in organizing effective rehabilitation services. The primary objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a GIS-integrated rehabilitation coordination platform for organizing early-stage rehabilitation after total hip arthroplasty. The investigators hypothesize that using a specialized mobile application with integrated GIS components will eliminate information gaps, ensure equitable patient flow distribution among medical organizations, reduce time from surgical discharge to second-stage rehabilitation initiation, and consequently improve functional treatment outcomes while enhancing healthcare system resource utilization efficiency. After discharge from surgical hospitals, patients often encounter an information vacuum regarding available rehabilitation services. Primary care physicians typically have limited knowledge of regional rehabilitation centers, severely restricting patient routing options. This leads to systematic violations of key rehabilitation principles - early initiation and continuity of care - negatively impacting surgical outcomes. Kazakhstan's healthcare system exemplifies these challenges, with critical imbalances between rehabilitation service demand and supply. Leading national centers performing thousands of hip replacements annually can provide rehabilitation to only a small fraction of patients, creating waiting lists extending several months. This disproportion generates systematic risks and healthcare delivery violations, with over 5.9 million healthcare delivery defects identified in 2024, including inappropriate service volume increases, unjustified medical care provision, and deviations from clinical protocols. Healthcare digitalization offers innovative solutions to these systemic problems. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been successfully applied in various medical fields for analyzing spatial distribution of medical resources, optimizing patient routing, and improving service accessibility. A rehabilitation coordination platform with integrated GIS components could fundamentally transform rehabilitation service organization by providing transparency regarding available services, real facility capacity, and care accessibility.

Conditions

• Hip Arthroplasty Replacement
• Hip Arthroplasty, Total
• Rehabilitation
• Hip Osteoarthritis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Health-GIS Rehabilitation Coordination Platform	Participants receive access to a specialized mobile application with integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) components for rehabilitation service coordination. While hospitalized, patients submit rehabilitation requests through the platform, indicating their location, desired time, and specific rehabilitation needs. Registered rehabilitation centers within the platform receive these requests and can submit counter-proposals with available slots, services offered, and estimated costs. The platform provides real-time visualization of available rehabilitation facilities on an interactive map, displays facility ratings, services offered, current capacity, and waiting times. Patients receive automated notifications about new proposals and can compare options based on location proximity, service quality ratings, and availability. Technical support is available through in-app messaging and a dedicated helpline during business hours.
OTHER	Standard Rehabilitation Referral	Upon discharge, patients receive written recommendations stating that rehabilitation is advised as part of their post-operative care plan. No specific rehabilitation facilities are recommended or contacts provided by the surgical team. Patients are instructed to contact their assigned primary care physician (general practitioner) at their local polyclinic for further referral coordination. The primary care physician is responsible for identifying available rehabilitation facilities, making referrals, and coordinating the rehabilitation timeline based on their knowledge of local resources and current availability. This intervention represents routine clinical practice typically provided to patients after total hip arthroplasty.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-11-28
• Primary completion: 2025-12-19
• Completion: 2025-12-19
• First posted: 2025-10-01
• Last updated: 2026-03-10

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Kazakhstan