The leaders of Ochsner Health System, the 46-hospital integrated system based in New Orleans, on Sep. 4 announced the creation of a new program as an element in its cardiometabolic care program: comprehensive weight management care.
A press release posted to the health system’s website began thus: “Ochsner Digital Medicine is announcing an added capability to its cardiometabolic solution: comprehensive weight management care. For more than nine years, the program has helped more than 50,000 members gain control of their hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia. Now, with the addition of weight management, Digital Medicine is meeting members across the entire cardiometabolic health spectrum for more personalized care. Whether a member has one or multiple conditions, their experience is customized to them—matching them with the clinically appropriate provider, health coach, and/or dietitian based on their specific needs within the cardiometabolic spectrum, a truly member-centric approach to healthcare.”
And it quoted Dan Shields, CEO for Ochsner Digital Medicine, as stating that “Digital Medicine is committed to one holistic, comprehensive program to care for members across a continuum with a continued and unwavering focus on clinical excellence, ensuring the highest quality of care.”
The press release noted that “Digital Medicine’s approach is rooted in the latest research and clinical expertise—developed and backed by Ochsner’s Bariatric Center of Excellence under the consultation of Rachel Dauterive, MD, MPH.” Further, “Enrolled members have access to a dedicated care team of professional health coaches, registered dietitians and providers, plus digital tools and resources to build sustainable behavioral changes and lifestyle skills for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. If clinically appropriate, members will have access to weight-loss medication (GLP-1 therapy) that providers carefully prescribe and manage.”
In creating this program, Ochsner joins a number of health systems nationwide that are moving into the innovative area of weight and lifestyle management connected to cardiometabolic care and issues, including New York City Health + Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, Tampa General Hospital, and the Northeast Georgia Health System. Each program is different and is set up differently, with a different set of goals and clinicians and others involved; but all are aimed at the growing crisis around morbid obesity and metabolic syndrome in the U.S.
What’s more, research is backing up these efforts. An article published online on May 31 in the American Journal of Managed Dare entitled “Modeling the Economic Value of Cardiometabolic Virtual-First Care Programs,” and authored by Madison Noble, M.P.H., Fang Chen, Ph.D., Sarah Linke, Ph.D., M.P.H., Timothy M. Dall, M.S., and Jenna Napoleone, Ph.D., M.P.H., found that there are long-term clinical outcomes and financial benefits to such programs. The study “simulated the potential multiyear health and economic benefits of participation in four cardiometabolic virtual-first care (V1C) programs: prevention, hypertension, diabetes, and diabetes plus hypertension.” And the authors’ analysis found that, “Across the V1C programs, sustained improvements in weight loss, hemoglobin A1c, and blood pressure levels were estimated to reduce incidence of modeled disease sequelae by 2% to 10% over the 5 years following enrollment. As a result of sustained improvement in biometrics and reduced disease onset, the estimated gross savings in medical expenditures across the programs would be $892 to $1342 after 1 year, and cumulative estimated gross medical savings would be $2963 to $4346 after 3 years and $5221 to $7756 after 5 years. In addition, high program engagement was associated with greater health and economic benefits.” Their conclusion? “V1C programs for prevention and management of cardiometabolic chronic conditions have potential long-term health and financial implications.” They also noted that diabetes, obesity, and hypertension are three of the most prevalent comorbid chronic diseases, and that “Healthcare costs associated with hypertension account for $131 billion annually in the U.S., and the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2017 was $327 billion.” Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found Louisiana to have the second-highest obesity rate of all 50 states, at 40.1 percent of all adults in 2022. West Virginia was first, with a rate of 41.0 percent, and Oklahoma was third, with 40.0 percent. The four least-obese states in 2022 were Colorado (25.0 percent), Vermont (26.8 percent), Massachusetts (27.2 percent), and California (28.1 percent).
