Peer-Reviewed Study Demonstrates Omada Program Helps Seniors Reduce Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease
Company’s fifth peer-reviewed publication shows seniors engage with the Omada Program and lose weight; model estimates savings in less than two years
San Francisco, CA; (October 13, 2016) – As the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) works to finalize a diabetes prevention program for beneficiaries, Omada Health today announced the publication of a study demonstrating its program’s effectiveness with individuals 65 and older. Published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, the published research contained data from more than 1,100 senior participants in the Omada program. Those participants started the Omada program, with an average age of 69 years old and BMI of 32.5 kg/m2.
Six months after beginning the Omada program, 89.5% of participants in the study completed at least nine of 16 lessons. Twenty-six weeks after beginning the Omada Program, average weight loss for program completers was 7.3%, while average weight loss for all participants was 6.8%. Estimated savings from the population included in the study were $1,770 over three years per participant, with additional savings accumulating over the next decade.
“This study validates what our team has known for a while: that American seniors can – and will – reduce their risk of chronic disease by engaging with a properly designed digital health intervention,” said Omada co-founder and CEO Sean Duffy. “The evidence from this study shows that the Omada program delivers clinically-meaningful health outcomes and significant savings for those 65 and older. This publication is a demonstration of our company’s values in action.”
Today, more than half of all Americans over the age of 65 – an estimated 23 million people – have prediabetes, with fewer than one in ten aware they have the condition. Millions more seniors are at elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. In 2014, Medicare spent more than $15,700 per beneficiary with diabetes, and $41,784 per beneficiary with heart disease. According to the Diabetes Care Project, one of every three dollars spent by Medicare is used to treat individuals with type 2 diabetes. Earlier this year, CMS announced that instead of simply screening for type 2 diabetes and treating those with the condition, Medicare would begin reimbursing providers for delivering CDC-recognized Diabetes Prevention Programs to seniors.
Cynthia Castro Sweet, PhD, Omada’s Director of Medical Affairs and one of the study’s authors, added: “This study continues our commitment to publishing our outcomes and building an evidence base that passes clinical scrutiny. This work is the result of years of data collection, analysis, and modeling in collaboration with leading health economic experts. It allows us to walk into the office of medical directors, population health experts and policy makers, have a substantive discussion on our program’s success to date, and discuss the quantifiable return on investment for payers investing in prevention. As we continue to work with senior, rural, or other underserved populations, studies like this one, coupled with the work of our data science team, will enable us to deliver personalized prevention in the context of population health.”
ABOUT OMADA HEALTH
Omada Health is a digital behavioral medicine company that inspires and enables people at the tipping point of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease to change the habits that put them most at risk. Working with health plans, health systems, and employers, Omada provides scalable, effective lifestyle interventions that deliver clinically-meaningful results. The company's flagship program is a digitally-based, remotely-delivered intensive behavioral counseling program. The program integrates smart technology (including a wireless scale pre-synced to a participant’s account), a proprietary curriculum, ongoing access to a personal health coach, and a like-minded online peer network for support. In doing so, it combines proven behavioral science and the power of social networking with cutting-edge tech and world-class design.
Since its founding, Omada has enrolled more than 75,000 participants across all 50 states, who have collectively logged more than 10 million weigh-ins. Omada operates on a pay-for-outcomes pricing model that aligns the company’s incentives with the goals of its partners and participants. Health insurers like Humana and Kaiser Permanente, as well as employers like Lowe’s, Iron Mountain, and Costco are among Omada’s clients.