As part of Credit Suisse’s https://www.credit-suisse.com Healthcare Disruptive Technologies and Innovations Series, Sean Duffy, CEO and Co-Founder of Omada Health, met with a small group of investors at a virtual meeting.
Omada Health https://www.omadahealth.com a leading digital care company that offering innovative and clinically effective digital health programs combined with professional health coaching, connected health devices, real-time data, along with personalized feedback.
Mr. Duffy notes that in spite of the five focus areas which include diabetes prevention, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, behavioral health, and MDK, and the fact that the company operates in an extremely large market, he reports extremely low penetration.
According to Mr. Duffy, COVID-19 will result in consumers asking for more digital interactions, health plans will want to innovate to meet consumers’ demands, and employers will want to meet their employees’ needs. The increase in the unemployment rate is more skewed towards smaller employers which are largely fully-insured. This has resulted in Omada not seeing much of an impact.
Also, Omada reports that they were forced to change parts of their care programs in response to COVID-19. For example, with the global pandemic ramping, Omada’s solutions needed to be tailored in a way that would still offer adequate support and yet be specific to a member’s chronic condition so as to keep members safe from contracting the virus. This has resulted in Omada rolling out a COVID-specific task force.
Omaha has historically found that employers prefer in large part the simplicity of Omada holding a relationship with the health plan, which has been the mode of operation for Omada for quite a while. However, if an employer wants to contract directly and work through their PBM/health plan, then Omada will follow that approach.
On the PBM side, Omada is now on ESRX’s digital formulary which Mr. Duffy sees as a huge market opportunity. He notes that 2020 will be the first year Omada has gone through the selling cycle in the PBM landscape, however, the company is already feeling the power of that channel. Even as Omada and Livongo become more recognizable in the market, the ability to bypass channel partners will be largely dependent on employers’ preferences.
Omada believes in their approach to digital care which includes using a whole suite of instruments that includes devices, content curriculum, and support, but fundamentally, the company provides healthcare services.
The company’s approach is simply to listen to customers in order to meet their goals quickly. He reports that Omada is not wedded to a device used only in any one particular disease area. Instead, Omada’s strategy is based around a software experience supported by healthcare personnel.
The content curriculum includes group architecture. This entails, devices to be used as one instrument to feed back the data needed to improve the overall program and then innovative along the member’s care path.
Mr. Duffy said that the impact from COVID-19 will have consumers asking for more digital interactions, health plans will want to innovate according to consumer demands, employers will want to meet their employees’ needs, and health plans will want to meet the expectations of their employer clients. Mr. Duffy sees COVID having the effect of healthcare being pushed to the cloud.
For more information and to provide feedback, email Jailendra Singh at jailendra.singh@credit-suisse.com or call 212-325-8121.