Operating 175 clinics worldwide, Kieser has spent nearly 60 years building centres of excellence for treating and preventing pain and promoting healthy ageing. In Australia, it operates 26 clinics across seven cities and employs 600 staff.
Kieser combines physiotherapy with strength training, with programs supervised by physiotherapists, exercise physiologists and exercise scientists and tailored to individual clients. It uses Swiss-engineered equipment for effective training, describing its evidence-based methodology as a fusion of health and exercise science.
Opening up access and remote care, Brett Long, the CEO of Kieser Australia, says his team are passionate about reducing people’s pain and keeping them doing what they love, irrespective of age. Brett says that providing convenient access to Kieser clinics is a top priority and that 50% of Australians could reach one within a 20-minute drive. Kieser’s ambition is for that to rise to 75% within five years. Brett adds that the remaining 25% tend to live in regional locations, making it more difficult to serve via bricks and mortar clinics. For these clients, Kieser offers telehealth support with a companion app that clients can use to remotely monitor their rehabilitation programs. However, Brett says that, in many cases, the programs developed by Kieser are best delivered in person using high-quality equipment.
Brett says that no matter their location, client preferences are clear.
"People like professional clinicians, reliability where the clinician does what they say they will do, and consistency of the people in charge. Like an elite sport environment, clients also want prompt communication between clinicians, doctors and other health professionals managing their care."
He adds, “The big one for us is that they like to understand whether the programs are evidence-based, data-driven and actually improving their condition for the long-term.”
Striving for quality on all levels
To achieve these client outcomes, Kieser approaches patient needs through its quality framework. Brett says quality is defined by three core pillars, “clinical excellence, customer service, and process reliability.” This encompasses the experience people have and their perceptions of value.
To deliver against the service and process pillars, Brett says that Kieser is investing in two major areas. The first is in training, coaching, and mentoring its team to deliver the best possible client interactions. The second is its technology platform.
Brett explains that all client training programs are tracked through the Kieser Konnect app. The Kieser team facilitate client programs using tablet devices and software known as ‘the portal’. “
"That’s all underpinned by proprietary technology we’ve built, which collects insightful data and manages the client through their rehabilitation journey,” Brett says.
“Clients love our system and the data feedback loop both our clinicians and clients get are integral to achieving great long-term clinical outcomes.”
Removing barriers to a great experience
Kieser Konnect manages many aspects of patient engagement, from monitoring progress and booking appointments to remote training options. When designing the app and in-house technology platform, Brett says the goal is to ensure patients feel better about the quality and value of the service, enable easy communication with us, and reduce time spent on administration.
"We are focused first on whether clients are successfully executing their program and whether we have the right level of oversight. We also want to make life easier for them so there are no barriers to attending or confusion on how to do their program."
One example is Kieser’s intention to streamline the payments process, replacing manual steps with more seamless digital ones. Currently, a client might have 6 sessions over three weeks and pay for each session by tapping their card.
Brett says that what should happen is that “all these details are loaded in the app, and clients should receive a notification requesting confirmation of attendance. If they say yes, their payment is automatically processed. We are already working on how to deliver that seamless experience.”
From a technology standpoint, Brett says that about 80% of what Kieser develops is client-focused, aimed at enhancing the experience and getting people into the right programs. He says that “the last 20% benefits our operations. “
For example, if a clinic is doing 500 appointments a week and payments have to be processed each time rather than automated, that’s significant time which our team could instead be spending helping clients,” Brett concluded.
