Can a smartphone app replace physical therapy visits for shoulder pain?
NCT ID NCT06016257
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This pilot study tests whether the VirtuaCare platform, a digital home exercise program, can help people with shoulder injuries do their rehab more consistently and with fewer clinic visits. Twenty adults prescribed physical therapy for shoulder conditions will use the platform at home. Researchers will compare their progress and number of visits to standard in-person therapy.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- VirtuaCare platform (digital home exercise program)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could offer a more convenient and effective way to do shoulder rehab at home, reducing the need for frequent clinic visits.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small pilot study with only 20 participants, so results may not apply broadly. The platform may not work as well as in-person therapy for all patients.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 20 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Feb 2024
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: Physical therapy home program subjects * Subject 18 years or older * Outpatient physical therapy prescribed by doctor for shoulder rehabilitation. * No previous neurological condition * Understand English (exercises are only in English) Physical therapists * The therapists will be the ones who provide physical therapy treatment to the acute and chronic shoulder population. Patients who had usual and customary treatment for acute and chronic shoulder conditions • Any patient referred based on inclusion criteria noted above that are referred for outpatient physical therapy and had a previous acute or chronic shoulder condition, were 18 years and older and had no previously documented neurological condition. Exclusion Criteria: Physical therapy home program subjects * Prior surgery within the last 5 years or less than 6 months between surgery * Neurologic comorbidities that have functional deficits * Uncontrolled diabetes * Diagnosis with active cancer in the last two years * Unable to understand English Physical therapists • Any therapist who does not provide physical therapy treatment for acute and chronic shoulder conditions. Patients who had usual and customary treatment for acute and chronic shoulder conditions • Any patient who had prior surgery within the last 5 years or less than 6 months between surgery, had neurological comorbidities that had documented functional deficits, documented uncontrollable diabetes, documented diagnosis of active cancer within the last two years.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
2 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
RECRUITINGLos Angeles, California, 90048, United States
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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Outpatient Rehabilitation
RECRUITINGLos Angeles, California, 90048, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Could a simple steroid injection replace a catheter for shoulder surgery pain?
- Shoulder surgery debate: to repair or not to repair the rotator cuff?