Omada Health https://omadahealth.com a company pioneer in the field of digital therapeutics has developed an online behavioral medicine program called “Prevent” https://preventnow.com to reach low income individuals with prediabetes. Development of the online program will be extended through support by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) www.chcf.org and the Kresge Foundation www.kresge.org.
Prevent is an online diabetes prevention program based on guidelines published by the National Diabetes Prevention Program, a public-private initiative led by CDC. The Prevent program which has already been adopted by a variety of employers and health plans, has published outcomes in “The Diabetes Educator”.
Omada Health believes that technology will redefine behavioral medicine and bring a new future to the 75 percent of Americans who will die prematurely from preventable life style-related chronic conditions.
The Prevent program has helped patients make lifestyle changes that have been shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. In addition, every participant in the program has people in real-time monitoring the progress and offering 24/7 feedback.
“CHCF chose to invest in Omada Health because the Prevent program has the potential to make diabetes prevention more engaging, affordable, and effective for patients, leading to better outcomes and lower health system costs,” said Margaret Laws, Director of the CHCF Innovations for the Underserved program.
In addition, the Kresge Foundation invested $500,000 in the company to fund and publish an independent evaluation of the efficacy of Prevent in low-income populations based on the data collected during the pilot. Omada Health will use the funds to conduct Prevent pilots in select low income clinics and to increase access among Medicaid plans.
According to Kresge’s Kimberlee Cornett, Managing Director of the Foundation’s social investment practice, “Part of our mission is to expand opportunities for low-income people, so we want to invest in efforts to address health disparities with the emphasis on promoting good health.”
The two foundations are currently accepting applications to their joint investing initiative called “Partnering for Impact” www.chcf.org/projects/2014/partnering-impact that plans on investing at least $5 million in companies to help community health centers improve healthcare access, efficiency, and affordability. Over the next three years, the foundations will be investing in companies that have technology or service-based solutions that will help community health centers and clinics.