Whole-Person Well-Being Over Profits

As the healthcare landscape shifts toward greater integration of virtual care solutions, it is increasingly important to articulate the Value on Investment (VOI) of virtual care. The American Medical Association (AMA) created the holistic Return on Health framework¹ to capture the broad value virtual care programs may deliver to all relevant stakeholders, including patients, providers, payers, and society at large. The Return on Health framework is similar to the Quintuple Aim,² which was designed to provide standardized guidance for defining targets and objectives for health systems through focusing on improving patient care, enhancing population health, reducing costs, promoting provider well-being, and advancing health equity—“the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health.”³ As a multi-condition care provider for cardiometabolic and musculoskeletal (MSK) health, Omada Health is embracing the Return on Health framework to thoroughly articulate the value of care we provide and encouraging the virtual health industry to follow suit in service of establishing standardized industry expectations.

Summary of Omada's evidence across the Return on Health framework

The Return on Health framework consists of five value streams, with health equity as an integral component extending across, and intentionally embedded throughout, said value streams. The following is a summary of Omada Health’s Return on Health framework findings.

Clinical Outcomes, Quality and Safety

• Statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in physical and behavioral health across diverse populations with cardiometabolic and MSK conditions
• Outcomes validated by rigorous research and 29+ peer-reviewed publications
• Full recognition of deployments of our Prevention program by the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program and multiple accreditations (e.g., ADCES, NCQA, URAC) demonstrate adherence to quality and safety standards

Access to Care

• Over one million all-time members served, enhancing access to equitable, conditionspecific care
• Fast, responsive support using data from connected devices and member input 
• Supported by many employers and health plans—with a $0 co-pay for cardiometabolic program members—enabling home-based condition management

Member Experience

• Proactive outreach, peer support, and engaging evidence-based care between doctor visits
• Compassionate and personalized care, building relationships for behavior change
• High member satisfaction with seamless multi-condition care

Care Team Experience

• Qualified, credentialed, and stable care team essential for quality care
• Low attrition and long tenure indicate satisfaction and engagement
• Recognized as a Great Place to Work and one of Fortune Magazine’s Best Workplaces in Healthcare

Impact on Healthcare Cost and Utilization

• High-quality, personal care leads to clinical improvements and projected cost savings
• Projected healthcare savings increase in each of the first three years after enrollment
• Fewer high-cost healthcare encounters among Omada members compared to controls

Eye on Equity

• Emphasis on equitable care and evaluating clinical effectiveness across diverse populations
• Personalized care addressing diverse needs, with an equity-minded workforce
• Potential to reduce population healthcare costs and burden by improving care for those most in need

It’s time for virtual healthcare to take a more holistic approach to measuring value, and prioritize the patients who receive care and the people and systems that serve them. This approach should be rooted in equity intentionality⁴—understanding who is engaged, how they are engaged, and to what end they are engaged. This aims to reduce the persisting disparities in health across race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, geography, language, gender, disability status, and sexual identity and orientation. The AMA Return on Health framework offers a prime opportunity to adopt a broad, evidencebased approach for how to define value in virtual care. As our member base grows and changes, Omada strives to adapt its personalized program to effectively meet their unique needs. We commit to staying true to our company’s mission of inspiring and nurturing lifelong health, one day at a time. In order to continue to offer an engaging and effective virtual healthcare program, we are committed to thoroughly evaluating the multi-condition care we provide. Doing so will lead to a greater understanding of how virtual programs, like Omada, benefit the greater healthcare ecosystem.

Download the full article for more details.