As physical therapists and occupational therapists, we are always looking for ways to remain life-long learners and provide the best care to our patients.
One way our professions reinforce this mantra is by requiring the completion of continuing education units on a regular basis.
Although there are many ways we can go about fulfilling this obligation, MedBridge has been a very popular option.
When I visited MedBridge’s website, the first thing that caught my eye was how MedBridge emphasizes being a “cost effective” solution that is the “one place for all your needs.”
Since Money Mobilizer serves as a resource for physical therapists and occupational therapists on money-related topics, it seems only fitting to discuss whether it makes sense to spend your hard-earned money on a MedBridge subscription.
This article will first assess the resources that MedBridge has to offer in more detail.
Then, the cost of these resources will be examined.
Finally, a well-informed decision will be made on whether a MedBridge subscription is right for you.
Let’s get started.
MedBridge Resources
1. Continuing Education Courses
Which Clinicians Does MedBridge Have Continuing Education Courses For?
- MedBridge has courses for
- Physical Therapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Speech-Language Pathologists
- Nurses
- Athletic Trainers
- Social Workers
- Certified Nursing Assistants
- Registered Dieticians
How Many Continuing Education Courses Does MedBridge Have Specifically For Physical Therapists And Occupational Therapists?
MedBridge has so many courses to choose from:
- Over 1,600 online continuing education courses specifically for physical therapists
- Nearly 1,500 online continuing education courses specifically for occupational therapists
The best part is, once you subscribe to MedBridge, you don’t have to pay any additional fees – you get unlimited access to all of the courses MedBridge has to offer.
Does that mean unlimited continuing education units and unlimited learning?
Yes!
Does MedBridge Continue To Provide Any New Continuing Education Courses?
Yes, MedBridge releases new courses every month. If you subscribe to the Money Mobilizer email list here I will keep you updated on new releases!
What Topics Do The Continuing Education Courses For Occupational Therapists And Physical Therapists Cover?
The continuing education courses MedBridge provides cover a wide variety of topics.
Despite having so many course offerings, the courses are sorted in several different ways to make finding a course on your topic of choice easy.
Courses are organized by
Topics (eg specialty area, ethics, documentation, etc)
Practice setting (eg hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient, private practice outpatient, home health, etc)
Body region
Level of difficulty (ie introductory, intermediate, advanced)
Prep Program (SCS, OCS, GCS, NCS, PCS, and CHT)
Does MedBridge Have Continuing Education Courses To Help Prepare For Specialty Certification Exams?
Yes, the “Prep Programs” mentioned above are individual MedBridge courses that are bundled together. This set-up makes it easier for physical therapists and occupational therapists to identify which courses are best to take in order to most effectively prepare for a specialty exam.
For example, if a physical therapist wanted to study for the OCS exam, they could check the box next to OCS on the left side bar as shown in the red circle pictured below:
They could then see the continuing education courses MedBridge recommends to help prepare for the OCS exam – 57 of them to be exact (see red circle pictured below):
How Do I Know That A Course Qualifies For Continuing Education Units?
After selecting a course but before starting the course, MedBridge provides you with the important information needed to verify that you will get credit for the course you are about to take.
See the picture below:
What Format Are The Continuing Education Courses?
The courses are pre-recorded online videos that show both the lecturer and PowerPoint slides:
Does MedBridge Have Live Courses/Webinars?
Yes, MedBridge not only offers many pre-recorded online continuing education courses, but they also regularly release live webinars as well.
As of the writing of this article, I am looking forward to attending Jeff Walter’s live webinar on BPPV pictured below:
Can I Retake A MedBridge Continuing Education Course Quiz?
Yes, so don’t stress!
2. Home Exercise Program Builder
I can’t say enough good things about MedBridge’s Home Exercise Builder. Out of all of the home exercise program builders I have used, MedBridge’s Home Exercise Program Builder has been my absolute favorite way to create and distribute home exercise programs to my patients (more on the different ways MedBridge allows you to do this later).
Is The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder High Quality?
The pictures all appear of professional, high quality.
Each model shown is dressed wearing the same colored clothing with a plain, white background, providing excellent contrast for patients to more easily follow along:
Is The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder Easy To Use?
The interface is very easy to use.
As shown below, the therapist can drag the picture over to the exercise queue (the blue area circled in red) using the mouse or the therapist can just click the plus sign (circled in red below) on the desired picture:
Does The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder Have Enough Exercise Picture Options To Choose From?
One of my biggest gripes with exercise programs is not finding the technique pictured exactly how you would like your patient to perform it.
The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder provides many different pictures of the same exercise, allowing the therapist to more easily convey exactly how the patient should perform the exercise.
For example, when I type in even a simple exercise like a quad set, you can see just how many different options there are to choose from depending on what you are looking to accomplish with your patient:
Does The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder Allow You To Easily Change The Dosage Of Each Exercise?
Once you select the exercise you want, you can then change the number of sets, reps, time for holds, times per day, and times per week all to your desired dosage:
Do Patients Only Get To Look At Pictures Of The Exercises Or Do They Get To Watch Video Demonstrations Of The Exercises As Well?
Both! They can look at a static picture of the exercise and read the directions or they can play the video of the exercise and the written directions will be read out loud to them, walking them through the exercise step-by-step:
Does The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder Allow You To Edit The Written Directions?
Yes, not only can you can edit the written description, you can also save the changes you made as the new default description (see checked blue box in the picture below):
That way, if you don’t like the something about the default written exercise directions, you won’t have to keep rewriting the same updated description for every patient you give the exercise to!
Does The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder Allow You To Change The Written Exercise Directions From English To Other Languages?
The written directions can be changed from English to Spanish using the dropdown menu pictured below:
However, there do not appear to be any other language options. This might be an area that MedBridge can work on improving in the future.
Does The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder Provide You With More Than One Option To Distribute The Exercises To Your Patients?
After uploading all of the exercises you need, you can
- Print them out and hand them to your patient
- Email the exercises to your patient
- Direct them to use the MedBridge Go app
In any case, you can provide your patient with a unique access code which they can use to find their home exercise program online (pictured below in the red circle):
What Is The MedBridge Go App?
As mentioned earlier, the MedBridge Go App is yet another way patients can access their home exercise program.
After your patient downloads the app, they will see this screen:
They then input the same unique access code you gave them and then they will see their prescribed exercises:
Your patient will then be able to use the MedBridge Go app to see videos of their exercises, the dosages that you prescribed, and track their compliance as well!
They can also continue to login by using the same access code each time.
Is The MedBridge Go/Patient Mobile App Free?
Once you purchase a Premium MedBridge subscription, you can use the MedBridge Go app for all of your patients without any extra charge.
3. Patient Education Handouts
Does MedBridge Provide An Option To Include Patient Education In The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder?
Yes! Perhaps the most underrated component of the MedBridge Home Exercise Builder is the ability to include patient education on topics I find myself explaining to patients day after day.
Of course, this doesn’t replace the importance of direct clinician-to-patient education, but I find it helps reinforce topics taught during a session.
Is There A Lot Of Variety In The Patient Education Section Of The MedBridge Home Exercise Builder?
Yes, the Patient Education Section of the MedBridge Home Exercise Builder has SO many topics ranging from optimal posture to spinal precautions to postural hypotension.
The volume of resources in the patient education section is massive:
What Is The Format Of The Patient Education?
The format is a combined video with a written description.
For example, clinicians can attach the below interactive video with the written description showing patients the pathophysiology of BPPV.
How cool is that?!
MedBridge Subscription Cost
What Does Each MedBridge subscription plan offer?
Check out the chart below to see what the Education Subscription and the Premium Subscription provide.
If the continuing education courses is what you’re looking to get from MedBridge, then the Education Subscription will probably suit you best. Note that this will also provide you with access to the Certification Preparation Programs that will help get ready to pass specialty board exams (eg OCS, GCS, CHT, etc).
However, if you also want access to the home exercise program builder, the Patient Mobile App/MedBridge Go, and the patient education information handouts, then the extra $50 for the Premium subscription is well worth it.
Just make sure to you use the discount code I provided you below to maximize your savings.
Does MedBridge Offer A Free Plan?
– No, but I can give you a special discount (see below)!
How Do I Get A MedBridge Discount/Promo Code?
Use Promo Code “MoneyMobilizer” to get $150 OFF your annual MedBridge subscription!
How Do I Use The MedBridge Discount/Promo Code?
Click here and then click the blue “Save Now” button:
You will then see a screen where you can select which MedBridge subscription plan you would like:
MedBridge Pricing – How Much Is A MedBridge Subscription?
Using the PROMO CODE “MONEYMOBILIZER” will give you $150 off of both the Education Plan and the Premium Plan:
How Long Is A MedBridge Subscription
Your MedBridge subscription will last for one full year.
Will My MedBridge Subscription Renew Automatically?
Yes, your MedBridge subscription will renew one year later from the day you originally purchased your MedBridge subscription.
However, you can turn this feature off if you’d like by clicking on the subscription tab across the top of your screen and then by clicking on “turn off automatic renewal” button:
Final Verdict
MedBridge’s claims of being a “cost effective” solution that is the “one place for all your needs” was put to the test.
MedBridge definitely delivered on the continuing education front, providing a wide variety of high quality pictures, videos and written directions that can even be dictated to the patient if watched online. However, while having the ability to change the written directions from English to Spanish was a nice feature, one possible area of improvement could be adding other languages as well (eg Persian, Tagalog, etc).
MedBridge also scored very high marks in my book with its patient education section, allowing clinicians to reinforce commonly explained topics by providing patients with videos and written explanations in an effort to achieve better patient outcomes.
While cheaper options likely exist, MedBridge provides clinicians the option to choose between a subscription geared towards just continuing education courses or a subscription that also includes the home exercise and education programs.
I personally have the latter since I work independently.
To top it off, MedBridge will also allow you to use the PROMO CODE “MONEYMOBILIZER” to save a tremendous amount of money on the advertised sticker price of a MedBridge Subscription.
So what are you waiting for?!
