Digital Osteoarthritis Counselling
Supporting Orthopedic Expertise with Personalized, Evidence-Based Guidance.
ArthroDoc AI helps physicians discuss osteoarthritis treatment expectations using structured patient inputs, clear estimates, and practical uncertainty.
Clinician View
Patient-specific estimate
Shows expected surgery likelihood and symptom change for the patient being discussed.
Plain-language meaning
Turns scores into counseling language that patients can understand.
Key context
Keeps the main patient factors visible so the estimate is easy to discuss.
Shared decision-making
Frames the result for a patient conversation, not an automated recommendation.
The Problem
Many patients cycle through multiple treatments before finding what works. ArthroDoc AI gives clinicians a clearer way to discuss options, expectations, and tradeoffs.
People living with osteoarthritis worldwide
Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease globally, affecting over 600 million people across all age groups and regions, with prevalence rising alongside aging populations and increasing rates of obesity.
Global Burden of Disease Study, 2020
Treatment exploration can create substantial out-of-pocket costs
Across physical therapy sessions, intra-articular injections, specialist visits, and imaging, patients commonly spend thousands of dollars before finding a treatment that works. The costs accumulate across years, not months.
Aggregate of published treatment cost data: PRP, HA injections, PT, specialist visits
Reported in one study as waiting too long for definitive treatment
A Northwestern University study found that 90% of patients who would benefit from knee replacement are waiting too long, losing function they cannot fully recover. The average exploration phase lasts 2 to 5 years before a definitive decision is made.
Ghomrawi et al., Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 2020
Who Benefits
Osteoarthritis management is expensive for nearly everyone involved. ArthroDoc AI was built to help clinicians make better-informed treatment decisions, and better decisions have real financial consequences.
US Patients
Average total cost of a TKR in the United States
For patients without insurance, that cost falls entirely out of pocket. For those with insurance, deductibles and co-insurance add $3,000-$15,000 on top of the trial-and-error costs that came before it. A clearer treatment pathway means fewer unnecessary procedures and a faster route to the right one.
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Healthcare Bluebook, published cost analyses 2023-2024
Payers and Self-Insured Employers
Of knee replacements rated inappropriate or of uncertain appropriateness in a RAND Corporation study
At $30,000-$50,000 per procedure, the payer-side cost of inappropriate surgical volume is substantial. Healthcare systems under value-based care contracts and self-insured employers bear this cost directly and benefit when surgical selection improves.
Katz et al., Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2014. RAND Corporation analysis of TKR appropriateness.
Healthcare Systems and ACOs
Annual productivity cost of osteoarthritis in the United States
Accountable Care Organizations and bundled payment programs are directly rewarded when unnecessary procedures are avoided. Earlier, better-informed treatment decisions reduce the total cost of care per patient across the full OA pathway.
Kotlarz et al., Arthritis & Rheumatism, 2009. US productivity impact of OA.
Better surgical selection benefits patients, payers, and health systems. It may reduce procedure volume for practices that currently operate outside evidence-based selection criteria. ArthroDoc AI is designed for clinicians who want better outcomes, not higher volume.
What ArthroDoc AI Does
ArthroDoc AI uses routine clinical information to give physicians patient-specific counseling context for osteoarthritis care.
Two patients with similar imaging can have very different outcomes. ArthroDoc AI helps bring that difference into the conversation before treatment decisions are made.
In the consultation
Patient profile
Inputs shown clearly
The clinician sees the information behind the result
Estimate with uncertainty
Range, not certainty
The output is framed as a counseling aid
Patient-facing language
Everyday meaning
Scores are tied to pain, walking, stairs, sleep, and activity
Counseling notes
Separate context
Nonoperative factors are shown apart from the main estimate
Next step
Discuss options
The result supports the visit without deciding the plan
How It Works
ArthroDoc AI takes standard clinical variables you already collect and returns estimates that can be discussed during the visit.
Step 01
Input routine clinical information such as demographics, symptom scores, radiographic grade, and functional context. No images or device signals are required.
Step 02
ArthroDoc AI returns surgical risk, expected symptom change, and conservative-treatment context. Counseling notes are shown separately from the main estimate.
Step 03
Plain-language descriptions connect the numbers to daily life, including stairs, walking, sleep, and activity.
Privacy By Design
ArthroDoc AI processes the information needed for the estimate, displays the result, and does not store patient records, medical record numbers, or longitudinal patient profiles. No patient records stored. Ever.
No DB
Clinical form entries are not saved into a patient database
Session
Inputs exist only for the analysis request and browser session
No EHR
The tool does not connect to hospital records or write to the medical chart
No IDs
Direct patient identifiers are not required to use the tool
Clinical Decision Support Guardrails
ArthroDoc AI is clinician-facing decision support. The workflow keeps the physician in control and makes the estimate understandable. This describes intended use; it is not a regulatory clearance statement.
Guardrail 01
The software supports counseling; the physician makes the final treatment decision.
Guardrail 02
Inputs, uncertainty, selected factors, and explanations help clinicians inspect the estimate.
Guardrail 03
The output is interpreted alongside examination, imaging, preferences, comorbidities, and clinical judgment.
Guardrail 04
ArthroDoc AI does not acquire or analyze medical images, IVD signals, or patient monitoring device signals.