An honest look at what the research says about virtual physiotherapy — what it suggests, where it urges caution, and when in-person care is the right call.
Written and reviewed by Lisa Jasper, PT, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta · Last reviewed September 2026
The research so far suggests it can. Studies of virtual rehabilitation — including after knee replacement — have found results similar to conventional in-person care, though researchers caution that study quality is often low and more high-quality research is needed.
That is the short, honest answer. The longer answer is that it depends on the condition, the person, and what the appointment needs to accomplish — and any responsible physiotherapist should say so.
One useful summary is a 2023 overview of 13 systematic reviews on telerehabilitation after total knee arthroplasty (knee replacement), published in a peer-reviewed biomedical engineering journal. Its conclusion: telerehabilitation positively affects walking ability, knee extension, and patient costs after surgery, and for quality of life, patient satisfaction, and the WOMAC score it had similar effects to conventional rehabilitation.
The same authors are explicit about the limits: because the quality of the underlying studies was low, those conclusions should be interpreted cautiously, and high-quality studies are still needed. We think that caveat deserves to travel with the finding. This is what the research so far suggests about telerehabilitation generally — it is not proof of what any single program, ours included, will do for you.
It is also worth noting that Alberta Health Services provides AHS-funded physiotherapy virtually or in-person. Virtual delivery is part of how the public system delivers care in Alberta, not an experiment at the edges.
For many concerns, yes. A virtual assessment includes a detailed history of your symptoms, medical history, and goals, followed by observation of how you move and guided exercises or strategies. Education and exercise progression are the core of much physiotherapy, and both translate well to video.
What video cannot do is hands-on testing or manual therapy. If your physiotherapist cannot get the information they need over video, they should say so and point you toward in-person care. Our FAQ describes what a virtual session involves in more detail.
Virtual care removes the travel — meaningful in a province where the nearest clinic can be a long drive, and doubly so in winter or while you are recovering from surgery. Appointments happen from your own home, in the environment where you actually need to move well.
In-person care offers hands-on assessment and manual therapy, which video cannot replicate. Neither format is universally better; the right one is whichever fits your condition and your circumstances, and some people use both at different points in their recovery.
Some situations genuinely need hands-on care — certain assessments, manual therapy, or anything your physiotherapist cannot evaluate properly over video. If that is your situation, we will tell you directly and help you think through in-person options; being honest about that is part of doing this properly.
If you are wondering what an appointment actually looks like, see What happens in a virtual physiotherapy appointment? For coverage questions, see Is virtual physiotherapy covered by insurance in Alberta?
Sources: Pang D, Sun A, Wang F, et al., “The efficacy and safety of telerehabilitation for patients following total knee arthroplasty: an overview of systematic reviews,” 2023 · Alberta Health Services, “Physiotherapy Services”
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Or email lisa@myhealthupdated.com · Common questions about virtual physiotherapy