DPT Program · Pro Bono Clinic
PTH8323 Health Systems · Example Leadership & Transformation Project
Health Systems Project
A real initiative in development, presented as a systems analysis rather than a completed institutional or clinical service.
Health Systems ProjectPTH8323 Health Systems · Example project
From Capital Equipment to Institutional Capability
Human Movement Systems Laboratory
From capital equipment to institutional capability.
Developing the Human Movement Systems Laboratory at Plymouth State University
How can Plymouth State turn disconnected movement-related assets into a sustainable system for education, workforce development, research, clinical inquiry, and industry partnership?
Sean M. Collins, PT, ScD · October 2026
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University01 / 18
Beyond opening a room or purchasing equipment
The intervention is organizational
Beyond opening a room or purchasing equipment.
Organizational structureCapital allocationWorkforce developmentEducationClinical practiceResearchGovernanceSustainability
The project is the system required to make existing and future assets useful, responsible, connected, and durable.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University02 / 18
Foundations of the HMS Lab
Starting conditions
Foundations of the HMS Lab
Movement Systems · Exercise Prescription · Shared laboratories
BIOPAC · Movesense · OpenCap · Existing rehabilitation resources
OpenSim · OpenSense · SCONE · Reproducible analysis
Exercise science · Athletic training · Allied health · Adventure education · PE
Healthcare · Community · Employers · Product and technology companies
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University03 / 18
Components do not automatically become a system.
The current gap
PSU does not yet have a durable mechanism that connects these assets.
- Equipment can remain underused without questions, workflows, training, and stewardship.
- Courses, clinical experience, research, and campus expertise can remain adjacent rather than connected.
- Technical knowledge can leave when students graduate or personnel change.
- Governance can develop reactively after activity has already begun.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University04 / 18
A strategic snapshot at this stage
SWOT Analysis
A strategic snapshot at this stage
S
Strengths
Internal · assets to use- Existing BIOPAC, Movesense, OpenSim/OpenSense, DPT, and clinical resources
- Courses, shared laboratories, research, and Pro Bono Clinic
- A clinician-led, portable, question-first scientific identity
W
Weaknesses
Internal · constraints to address- No fully established operating structure, staffing model, or recurring budget
- Technical validation, governance, data systems, and key capabilities remain in development
- Limited space, faculty time, and continuity beyond a small number of people
O
Opportunities
External · possibilities to pursue- Rapid improvement in wearable and portable movement-measurement technologies
- Develop clinically valuable wearable and portable measurement methods
- Cross-program workforce development, industry R&D, and external funding
T
Threats
External · risks to anticipate- Institutional budget constraints, workload, and changing priorities
- Technology obsolescence, licensing changes, and vendor dependence
- Pressure to overstate clinical readiness or prioritize sponsor needs
SWOT organizes strategic factors at one point in time. It does not replace causal analysis of how those factors interact.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University05 / 18
Create a laboratory organized around consequential questions.
Human Movement Systems Laboratory
A clinically oriented platform for inquiry, education, and collaboration.
Question-driven
Scientific and clinical questions determine what should be measured.
Portable and accessible
Bring measurement to authentic movement when the question requires it.
Multimodal and computational
Connect movement, physiology, context, evidence, mechanisms, and models.
Governed by intended use
Keep education, care, research, and service distinct even when they inform one another.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University06 / 18
Hierarchical authority. Networked work.
Plymouth State University
School of Health
DPT Program
Human Movement Systems Laboratory
Collaborative network
DPT courses and laboratoriesPro Bono ClinicMovement-focused disciplinesCommunity and healthcareIndustry and workforceComputational research
A clear institutional home supports accountability without making the work exclusive to one course, discipline, or investigator.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University07 / 18
Give questions somewhere to go.
01Observation
02Question
03Measurement
04Evidence
05Mechanism
06Model
Questions may begin with
Classroom learning Clinical observation Scientific uncertainty Industry R&D needEvery result should produce a better observation, question, method, or model.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University08 / 18
Learning to ask better questions
A progressive student pathway
Learning to ask better questions
- 01Foundation
Movement Systems, Exercise Prescription, and shared laboratory experiences.
- 02Inquiry
Translate observations into constructs, competing explanations, and testable questions.
- 03Applied participation
Case discussions, synthetic data, method development, and supervised measurement.
- 04Advanced contribution
Independent study, capstone, research practica, analysis, and public scholarship.
- 05Continuity
Experienced students help preserve capability across cohorts.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University09 / 18
From clinical observation to research question
Pro Bono Clinic relationship
Questions from the Pro Bono Clinic should have somewhere to go.
A clinical observation should be able to become a research question without a patient automatically becoming a research participant.
01Clinical observation
02Unresolved movement question
03HMS Lab inquiry
04New understanding
Current state: this is a proposed relationship. No patient-facing HMS Lab measurement pathway has been established.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University10 / 18
New measurement capabilities should change the questions we ask
From ambulatory physiology to ambulatory movement
New measurement capabilities should change the questions we ask.
ECG and heart-rate variability
Ambulatory monitoring made it possible to study regulation, variability, and physiological coordination over time and in context—not only a heart-rate snapshot.
Long-term wearable kinematics
Portable movement measurement can make persistence, adaptation, learning, fatigue, symptoms, and transfer beyond the laboratory observable and testable.
Now that we can observe movement across repetitions, sessions, environments, and time—What patterns persist?What changes with learning or fatigue?Does improvement transfer to daily life?What should we do differently?
Engineering can expand what is observable. Clinical practice must originate the consequential questions and define what the observations mean.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University11 / 18
Build workforce capacity while solving real R&D problems.
Workforce development
Students learn to work across clinical, scientific, and technical boundaries.
Movement and physiological measurementWearable implementationBiomechanics and modelingHuman-device evaluationResearch and data stewardshipInterdisciplinary communication
Partnership forms
- Sponsored student and faculty projects
- Internships and applied research experiences
- Product, prototype, wearable, and algorithm evaluation
- Ergonomic and human-device field studies
- Shared grants and professional education
Bring us a problem involving people moving, working, or interacting with a product.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University12 / 18
Demonstrated capability creates a basis for R&D funding.
A staged investment model
BIOPAC · Movesense · computational ecosystem
Governed methods and trained people
Authentic evidence of what the lab can do
Credible industry and community conversations
Sponsored work · grants · workforce programs
Personnel · maintenance · targeted instrumentation
Funding follows authentic work—not projections of capabilities that have not yet been demonstrated.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University13 / 18
Demonstrate range without losing coherence.
Candidate project portfolio
Each project should build both knowledge and institutional capability.
Wearable foundation
Movesense acquisition, timing, calibration, orientation, and OpenSense interoperability.
Integrated teaching
Movement, exercise response, adaptation, reassessment, and uncertainty.
Field measurement
Ergonomics, outdoor movement, fatigue, task demands, and authentic environments.
Human-device interaction
Assistive devices, rehabilitation technology, wearables, and product evaluation.
Computational adaptation
OpenSim and SCONE studies of constraint, compensation, fatigue, and intervention.
Clinical needs assessment
Identify recurring Pro Bono Clinic questions before designing a patient workflow.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University14 / 18
Build capability in stages.
Development sequence
Evidence before escalation.
- 01Organize
Charter · authority · stakeholders · inventory · space · scope
- 02Govern
Data · privacy · consent · safety · research · clinical and industry agreements
- 03Demonstrate
Non-human technical foundations and bounded pilot work
- 04Integrate
Courses · student pathways · research · carefully bounded clinical inquiry
- 05Sustain
Partnerships · sponsored R&D · grants · staffing · evaluation · reinvestment
New instruments, tasks, populations, and interpretations require their own readiness evidence.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University15 / 18
Every desirable change creates new demands.
Reinforcing loops
Capability can create more capability.
- Projects → outputs → visibility → partnerships → funding
- Student participation → technical capacity → more ambitious projects
- Clinical questions → research → teaching examples → better questions
Balancing loops and risks
Growth can exceed the system’s capacity.
- Demand → supervision burden → delay and quality risk
- Equipment growth → maintenance, training, storage, and recurring cost
- Sponsor funding → pressure to prioritize partner needs
- Clinical integration → risk of unsupported interpretation
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University16 / 18
The project is underway. The system is not finished.
- Scientific and educational rationale
- Capital equipment and computational assets
- Public Movement Systems platform
- DPT curricular and clinical relationships
- This presentation and focus groups with faculty, students, and clinical partners to refine the proposal and begin working with collaborators
- Movesense acquisition and OpenSense interoperability
- Teaching apparatus and pilot methods
- Course–lab integration
- Governance and project selection
- Routine patient measurement
- Formal cross-program agreements
- Sponsored industry relationships and recurring R&D revenue
- Permanent laboratory staffing
The equipment created potential capability. The project is the work required to make that capability coherent, useful, governed, and sustainable.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University17 / 18
This has been an example of a Health Systems project
PTH8323 project reflection
This has been an example of a Health Systems project.
Diagnosed the system
Located the project within PSU, the School of Health, DPT, courses, clinic, research, and potential partners.
Defined the need
Identified the gap between owning valuable assets and sustaining an integrated institutional capability.
Developed an approach
Proposed an organizational home, collaborative network, operating cycle, project portfolio, and staged implementation.
Anticipated consequences
Considered stakeholders, reinforcing and balancing loops, governance, workload, recurring cost, and unintended effects.
Addressed sustainability
Connected education, workforce development, industry R&D, external funding, personnel, and reinvestment.
Represented the project as it exists today
Separated what is established, in development, and proposed at the time of presentation rather than presenting an imagined finished result.
A systems project can be useful before the intervention is complete: it can make the present system visible, clarify the next decisions, and create a defensible path forward.
Movement Systems · Plymouth State University18 / 18
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