Deeper Integration of Chronic Care and Digital Health: What’s Next for NYCHH and Welldoc®
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At Fall Forum 2021, Dr. Karyn Singer, MD MPH, AVP of Chronic Disease and Prevention from NYCHH and Keith Reynolds, COO at Welldoc, discussed their journey integrating digital health into chronic care at one of America’s largest public health systems.
Background
In 2018, New York City Health and Hospital System estimated that half of their patients with diabetes couldn’t achieve their glycemic targets. This was especially problematic as they serve a diverse and vulnerable population, disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes.
The Objective
Discover an effective and scalable solution that could easily integrate into patients’ daily lives.
The Plan
Develop a pilot program with Welldoc to see if the right digital solution could help patients self-manage their blood glucose levels.
Phase 1 Success
Patients used the BlueStar ® app to track and record their blood glucose levels. Using the patient’s information, BlueStar was able to deliver individual guidance, weekly reports, and reminders, articles, healthy recipes, and videos.
The results
Beginning in December 2018, patients with poorly-controlled diabetes (n=273) were enrolled in the BlueStar ®* app pilot program. Participants were eligible if they had a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, an A1C ≥ 9%, and monitored over 6 months.
Phase 2 Underway
As a result of the success sustained in the initial pilot, Phase 2 has seen an expansion in location: NYCCH has added three additional hospitals and their respective patient populations.
Key components of Phase 2
Phase 2 and Beyond
Results from the expanded Phase 2 pilot are already promising. Based on current outcomes, it appears that there is a strong opportunity to expand the program to other locations – as well as broadening the reach of digital health to pre-diabetes and management of comorbidities such as hypertension and heart failure, as supported by Welldoc.
There may also be an opportunity to leverage Welldoc’s member outreach capability to increase awareness, enrollment, and most importantly, impact.
To learn more about how Welldoc and NYCHH are taking diabetes self-management to the next level, watch the discussion now.
The Welldoc Difference
Welldoc®, a digital health leader revolutionizing chronic care, is integrating personalized, real-time and actionable insights into the daily lives of individuals living with chronic conditions, enabling improved health and outcomes. Welldoc’s comprehensive chronic care platform provides multi-condition support across diabetes, hypertension, heart failure and behavioral health. Welldoc’s flagship product, BlueStar®, an FDA-cleared digital health solution, guides individuals through the complicated journey of living with diabetes by enabling them to self-manage their care while enhancing connections to their healthcare team. Welldoc partners with health plans, health systems and employers with the goal of extending care, improving health and reducing costs.
Notes and references: *Welldoc Diabetes Rx/OTC is an FDA-cleared medical device (“BlueStar”), intended for use by health care providers and their adult patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. For full labeling information, visit www.welldoc.com. The other Welldoc products are non-FDA-cleared and intended to promote general wellness and education/self-management of various chronic disease states.
1 Patterson, S. Marcello, R. Dolle, J. Kaur, S. Davis, N. Improving Diabetes Self-Management with a Mobile App: Preliminary Results of a Pilot Program at a Safety Net Hospital System. Poster presented at: ADA 2020 Virtual Conference, June 2020.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hispanic/Latino Americans and Type 2 Diabetes. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/hispanic-diabetes.html. Accessed October 20, 2020.