The life of a physical therapist can be a whirlwind. There are patient charts to review, extensive evaluations to perform, care plans to develop, and continuing education credits to earn. And let's not forget what helps keep the practice going: billing, billing, billing.
It may seem like a PT’s work is never done. Luckily, there are apps out there to help you get the work - life balance you crave while allowing you to provide the kind of high - quality care your patients deserve (and — let's be honest — prevent you from having a full - blown King’s - Landing - Daenerys - style meltdown). We checked top - ranking apps and caught up with a few seasoned PTs to hear what apps they use to help manage the chaos and keep their practices running like clockwork.
The Physical Therapy Experts
Here are a few of the PTs who were kind enough to share some of their favorite apps with us:
- Mike Dave, PT, of Hudson RehabSpa in Jersey City, New Jersey
- Rodney Hawkins, PT, MPT, COMT, of Full Motion Physical Therapy in San Clemente, California
- Aashna Shah, PT, MPT, of ADAPT Community Network in New York, New York
The “Best Physical Therapy Apps” Categories
For easy reading, we’ve divided the best PT apps into five categories. Below, you'll find the best PT apps for:
- Clinical References
- Patient Education & Treatment Adherence
- Keeping Yourself Organized
- Pediatric Care
- Studying & Continuing Education
Best PT Apps for Clinical References
1. Muscle and Bone Anatomy 3D
- Available for Download On: Apple Store
- Price: $4.99
- Why You’ll Love It: As a physical therapist it’s always helpful to be able to see a detailed, 3D overview of a person’s skeletal system, as well as the different layers of muscle in the body. This app provides not only a 3D overview but also lets you rotate the image, highlight key points in the body, and zoom in on different muscles while also providing an audio feature that pronounces the name of different muscle groups.
2. Pocket Anatomy
- Available for Download On: Apple Store
- Price: Free
- Why You’ll Love It: Have you ever tried to explain something to a patient when all you really need is a better visual? Rather than use the old reference posters hanging on your practice’s walls, pull out your iPhone and let Pocket Anatomy be your aide. This app creates a full 3D experience of the human anatomy, allowing you to zoom in and navigate through all the bones, muscles, and systems in layers. You can also customize your experience by adding pins to interactive charts for each patient. The best part about this app is that it simplifies the material so that your patients can understand what they’re seeing. Our experts all agree that when it comes to anatomy references, this app's visuals and user - friendliness cannot be beat. “Never leave home without Pocket Anatomy in your pocket,” Dave says.
3. ICD10 Consult
- Available for Download On: Apple Store | Google Play
- Price: Free (with in-app purchases)
- Why You’ll Love It: As most PTs know, billing can be a real challenge, especially for a new practice that’s just getting off the ground. Fortunately, the gods have blessed the PT world with this great app. In fact, Shah calls it “a billing guru.” This app is perfect for clarifying diagnosis codes and meanings, exactly the way you might search for them. It helps you find a perfect code for your patient, decipher it with full explanations of that diagnosis, and learn whether a code or condition is valid for reimbursement. Its search function is really flexible and recognizes clinical acronyms and synonyms, which makes the search experience far less frustrating. Dave says this app was just what he needed to get his rehab center running, and Hawkins even suggests that you spring for the upgrade at $19.99 to avoid pesky pop-up ads.
4. Physera
- Available for Download On: Apple Store | Google Play
- Price: Free
- Why You'll Love It: Created by PTs for PTs, this app was designed to make it way easier for you to develop new care plans to help your patients build strength and flexibility. Gone are the days of in - depth Google searches and mulling through textbook after textbook. Physera has more than 100 exercises and descriptions that can save you essential time that you can devote to having more one - on - one meetings with patients. (Or maybe even to take a full lunch for once?) But don’t just take our word for it: this app comes highly rated by our entire panel of experts. Shah, specifically, loves the app’s free exercise library; she says it helps her get creative with custom workouts for her patients.
5. Goniometer
- Available for Download On: Apple Store
- Price: $4.99 (only for iPhone users)
- Why You’ll Love It: This top - ranking app is a basic, easy - to - use digital goniometer that can help you determine your patients’ range of motion. The tool includes a visual reference that shows you how to use the app to measure the angles for the joint in question. Simply place the device on the patient to determine starting angle and hit Stop once the patient has extended as far as they can go. And voilà — virtual goniometer!
Best App for Patient Education & Treatment Adherence
6. PT Pal Pro
- Available for Download On: Apple Store | Google Play
- Price: Free
- Why You’ll Love It: Have you ever wondered how you can get your patients to stay on schedule with their treatment plans while they’re at home? Well, wonder no more - that’s where PT Pal Pro comes in. This cloud - based platform makes it easier for PTs to communicate with their patients and provide them with the information they need to meet their goals. With this app, you can send exercises, treatment plans, and reminders to your patients’ mobile devices, and even track their progress over time. Dave says this app has made it easier for his patients to adhere to their treatment plans and has even changed the tone of his conversations with them during sessions. “Now, instead of asking, ‘What has happened since our last visit?’ the app shows it all,” he says. “We can go straight into what has been working and what we need to improve on.”
Best Apps for Keeping Yourself Organized
7. WeekCalendar
- Available for Download On: Apple Store
- Price: Free (with in-app purchases)
- Why You’ll Love It: Need a scheduler that works across platforms? This calendar app gathers your appointments across Google, Exchange, iCloud, Outlook, and more to combine everything in one place and keep your day moving. Working in both home and clinical settings, Hawkins says he prefers this app over his phone’s built - in feature because it makes it much easier to keep track of his various schedules.
8. Stopwatch and Timer
- Available for Download On: Google Play
- Price: Free
- Why You’ll Love It: Stopwatch and Timer is a really simple app that allows PTs to use five stopwatches at a time. This makes it really useful for training and time management when working with numerous patients. Our experts say that there’s no confusion about how to manage the timers, and it serves as a great assistant during particularly busy days at the practice.
Best Apps for Pediatric Care
9. Jump Jump Froggy
- Available for Download On: Apple Store
- Price: Free (with in-app purchases)
- Why You’ll Love It: Working with children can sometimes be challenging, but adding fun to the mix practically guarantees their cooperation during a physical therapy session. This app helps children over the age of four stay focused and engaged throughout their treatments, as it includes mind - body exercises that Flip the Frog and his friends do right along with the kids. Like Therapy Gaming, this app uses a preschooler’s love of games to encourage participation in physical activity, and no console is needed. Shah says that this app is one of the most requested activities by her younger patients. It features four fun activities that all focus on different mobility areas: jump up, 30 - second speed hopping challenge, sit - ups, and push - ups. “When they jump, the frog jumps,” Shah says. “It’s really cute and effective.” To track improvements, kids can play to beat their high scores. To increase at - home adherence, there’s a multiplayer mode kids can select so they can compete with their friends and family.
10. Toca Dance Free
- Available for Download On: Apple Store
- Price: Free
- Why You’ll Love It: This app allows kids ages six and up to choreograph dances that include physical therapy motions such as squatting, jumping, and crossing midline steps that help children work on their physical therapy goals. While dancing, children practice their coordination and motor skills at their own pace.
11. Super Stretch Yoga
- Available for Download On: Apple Store
- Price: Free
- Why You’ll Love It: This app provides an interactive yoga experience to kids three and up. Through the use of animation, storytelling, and videos, kids learn different yoga poses that serve as physical therapy exercises. The app also helps children who suffer from stress, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, and childhood obesity.
Best Apps for Studying & Continuing Education
12. NPTE-PT Pocket Prep
- Available for Download On: Apple Store | Google Play
- Price: Free (with in-app purchases)
- Why You’ll Love It: This 4.7 - star - rated app is perfect for PTs who are studying for the National Physical Therapy Exam, as well as for experienced practitioners who are looking to keep their knowledge fresh. The free version has dozens of practice questions that let users get a feel for the app so they can determine whether they’d like to upgrade to the paid version. Users can even create customized exams to test themselves on the topics they need the most help with. And the Question of the Day notification is great for quick refreshers for busy PTs.
13. PT365
- Available for Download On: Apple Store | Google Play
- Price: Free
- Why You’ll Love It: This app is perfect for PT students and working practitioners alike who want an easy way to assess their current knowledge base and continue learning. Every day, you’ll get a push notification with a multiple - choice question to answer, along with explanations for both the correct and incorrect answer choices. Just under 4,000 Apple Store reviewers gave this app a 4.9 - star rating, many of them noting that the app lets users see how others answered the same questions, track their progress over time, and review any previously answered questions that they had trouble with.
14. PT Content Master
- Available for Download On: Apple Store | Google Play
- Price: $29.99
- Why You’ll Love It: This 4.8 - star - rated app was designed for a range of experience levels, from current students to seasoned PT pros. Content is split into categories like “The Musculoskeletal System,” “Equipment & Devices,” and “Safety & Protection.” Once you download the app, you can identify your level of competency in each category to create personalized “Study Stacks.” These customizable modules will help you review the specific material you feel you need to work on. There’s also an “assessment” mode that tests your knowledge with 750 questions and provides explanations for each answer set. You can even tag questions you get wrong or want to review once you complete the assessment.
Originally published on August 21, 2019.
Updated by Lauren Garcia on April 16, 2020
Updated in March of 2022 by Dr. Margarita David
Image courtesy of iStock.com/agrobacter