AllWays Health Partners, a Massachusetts-based health insurance company, has launched a new program designed to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. Participants will be paired with lifestyle coaches to help improve their diet and exercise regimens.
The program, called “Path to Lifestyle Change,” is offered through Massachusetts General Hospital Diabetes Center at no additional out-of-pocket cost to clients who have been identified as being at-risk for developing type 2 diabetes, the most serious form of the disease.
“It's very important to do two things: raise awareness and give patients an opportunity to address this condition to prevent the development of diabetes down the road,” says Dr. Tony Dodek, chief medical officer at AllWays Health Partners.
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While 30 million Americans have diabetes, more than twice as many — an estimated 84.1 million adults — have prediabetes. With more than one in three American adults being pre-diabetic, every $1 out of $7 of healthcare spend is attributable to diabetes-related treatment and complications, according to research from The American Diabetes Association.
Employers are increasingly taking steps to prevent and treat the disease. Healthcare benefit provider Virgin Pulse announced earlier this week its acquisition of Blue Mesa Health, a global therapeutics company known for its a diabetes prevention program.
AllWays Health Partners’ new diabetes program aims to help at-risk employees reduce their weight by 7% and increase their minimum time spent exercising to 150 minutes per week, the company says. Employees will have access to coaching opportunities, nutritional counseling, cooking classes, exercise therapy and a variety of other interventions.
“The program is multipronged in its approach — it really is a program to change lifestyle,” Dr. Dodek says. “It's not just diet. It's not just exercise. It's all encompassing, to try to make people as healthy as they can be and prevent the development of diabetes in the future.”
