OMADA HEALTH CONSUMER VIEW
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that 86 million, 1 in 3 Americans now have prediabetes, and 9 out of 10 of them don’t even know they have the condition. Unless there is an intervention, 15% to 30% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years. The CDC predicts that if current trends continue, 1 in 3 Americans will have diabetes by 2040. On average, diabetes patients cost approximately $10,000 more every year than those without the condition. Like many chronic conditions, risk for type 2 diabetes can be reduced through lifestyle changes.
“We knew that we needed a way to leverage technology to assist our employees who have prediabetes. With our employees spread across 900 locations in North and South Carolina, one huge challenge was figuring out how to motivate employees to participate in a prediabetes program that required them to go to a defined place (building) at a defined time, every week, and do this for 16 weeks.” explains Dr. Zeev Neuwirth, Senior Medical Director of Primary Care at Carolinas HealthCare System.
Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) was approached by Omada Health with a solution. Omada's online Prevent platform delivers a 16- week National Diabetes Prevention Program recognized by the CDC, with two years of peer-reviewed published data demonstrating effectiveness.
Neuwirth explains further, “We were very interested in the Omada solution. First, it had some really sophisticated and elegant behavior change mechanisms making it much easier for people to create and maintain healthier habits. Second, it was online and asynchronous – meaning that people did not have to show up at a certain time,or certain place. They could use the program from the comfort of their home, and at any time of day or night which makes it much easier for people to sign up and stay with the program. Third, Prevent is based on a proven 16-week program. The Omada platform provides the social connection with a health coach and other participants to sustain behavior change, continuous real-time feedback and daily tasks for habit formation."
“When I participated in the program, I looked at my weight on the Omada scale daily. This led me to be much more aware of my eating and exercise habits. But even more than that, having the bluetooth enabled scale in my house, connected to the coach, I felt like I was part of a larger community, all focused on becoming healthier. Stepping onto that scale almost felt like being transported – the social connectivity factor was much more powerful than I anticipated”, Neuwirth shares.
In early 2015, CHS began offering this solution to employees (called teammates) at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. To promote this new program, CHS leveraged their LiveWell Team which had trusted relationships with teammates across different locations for a “boots on the ground” approach. CHS teammates were emailed a complete Prevent program description, with their participation responsibilities clearly communicated.
Prevent Program includes:
- Short online health assessment to determine if you are a candidate
- Wireless scale provided to you, for daily weigh-ins
- Group of peers who will be your online “team”
- Online interactions with a dedicated, professional health coach
- Daily and weekly tracking of your progress with your coach and team
Interested teammates clicked on the email link to answer the Prevent screening questions. Qualified teammates enrolled into a cohort of 10-12 anonymous teammates, were assigned to a coach from Omada Health and received a Welcome package with a bluetooth scale.
During the 16-week Prevent “Core” phase, participants complete one interactive health lesson each week, covering physiological, social and psychological aspects for change reinforced with interactive games. After the Core phase, teammates move into the “Sustain” phase with access to more education and a broader peer group for ongoing support.
OMADA HEALTH COACH VIEWTeammates and their coach collaborate via the Omada Health platform. The coach monitors progress and gives real-time feedback via private messaging, group discussion board, text messaging or by phone. Teammates use food and activity trackers to capture high level daily eating, drinking and movement and engage in “healthy competition” messaging with other group members. Cohorts keep them motivated and accountable. Teammates can see the cohort member’s progress towards the weight goal displayed on the group dashboard by a green circle around their profile picture. Only the coach can view each teammate’s detailed progress page with tracked weight, food and activity information.
Prevent Program Positive Response
To date, over 400 teammates have participated in the Prevent program, with 245 completing the 16-week program.
“Teammates have found it beneficial to participate in the program”, explains Kati Davis, Director Benefit Planning and Wellness at Carolinas HealthCare System. “They are guided by trained coaches, supported by cohorts and can participate when it is convenient for them, from wherever they are.. at home or the work.”
CHS is evaluating the program success through quantitative measures (i.e. weight loss, program engagement) and qualitative feedback.
“Although the primary goal was to engage teammates in the program, we have been very happy with the results - 40% of our Prevent participants have lost more than 5% of their weight. When you are considering the risk for prediabetes, this weight loss has a big impact on the health of the teammate.”
“Our teammates are engaging with the Prevent platform an average of 12+ times each week, completing educational lessons, weigh-ins, tracking food/activity, participating in discussions and exchanging private messages with their coach”, Davis adds.
Teammate comments:
- The information has been helpful. I know that if I do what it says, I can avoid diabetes. If I don't, I am almost sure to be a diabetic.
- Nice to have others going through the same struggles and working together for improvement
- Currently in the 9th week of the program and I have lost 17 pounds. I love the app. I hope that at the end of the 16 weeks my scale will continue to work with the app and the tools I have been using will still be there.
Future Direction for Carolinas HealthCare
“We're working to move away from self-reported health activities to activities that require additional accountability and social support”, describes Davis. “We feel the support from the coach and cohort is very powerful to rejoice in the teammate’s success”.
CHS is currently considering to offer the Prevent program to a wider population at risk for Metabolic Syndrome, where weight is an important factor to monitor and manage.
Neuwirth concludes, “From the perspective of a forward-thinking healthcare provider organization, we are excited about the potential of making significant improvements in the health of the multiple populations we care for – our employees, our much larger patient population, and the communities that we serve in the Carolinas. Reducing the number of people who transition from PreDiabetes to Diabetes is one of the largest levers we have to improve the health of populations and communities. What makes this particular Omada Prevent Program attractive to providers and employers is that it makes it a lot easier and much more doable for the people we are trying to help.”
Note: The Omada Health screen shots above do not display real health data.
chronic care management,
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