Blue Shield of California Celebrates 5th Anniversary of Wellvolution, Award-Winning Digital Health Platform, Adds New Weight and Diabetes Management Programs

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Over 355,000 Blue Shield of California members access lifestyle medicine services to prevent and manage chronic conditions, lose weight and improve mental well-being

OAKLAND, Calif., July 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California's Wellvolution has helped over 355,000 nonprofit health plan members achieve their health goals in the award-winning digital health platform's first five years.

Introduced in 2019 in collaboration with Solera Health, Wellvolution offers digital health programs to address and prevent a variety of health needs with holistic, lifestyle-medicine approaches: diabetes, weight management, mental health, hypertension, musculoskeletal health and tobacco cessation. 

Members continue to see successful results, with over half of participants on the platform reporting that they have achieved their health goals.

Program results:

• Members participating in weight management programs lost a total of 272,880 pounds      
• 82% of members reported their experience with Wellvolution was worthwhile
• Headspace Care: 74% of members with moderate to severe depression at intake had improved symptoms, and 71% with moderate to severe anxiety reported improvements
• Virta: 49% of members eliminated diabetes-related medications

Wellvolution programs aim to get to the root cause of the condition by teaching sustainable healthy habits. This is done with personal coaching, as well as education on the importance of a healthy diet, sleep and stress management, exercise, and smoking cessation. Some programs also offer tools to help members with their health journeys — like a digital weight scale, exercise tracker, glucometer, movement-tracking wearable sensors, nicotine replacement therapy or a blood pressure monitor to track progress — all of which can be used from the comfort and convenience of one's home.

Wellvolution by the numbers:

• Members on the platform range from 18-97 years old
• Blue Shield members spent 156 million minutes with Wellvolution programs to date
• Top three health needs addressed on Wellvolution:
  • 43% - mental health program
  • 31% - diabetes prevention or management program
  • 19% - weight management program

"We launched Wellvolution in 2019 to help our members prevent, treat and even reverse chronic diseases with lifestyle medicine at no additional cost," said Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi, senior director of Lifestyle Medicine at Blue Shield of California. "Since then, the platform has expanded and will continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of Californians. Lifestyle medicine, paired with personalized health coaching and digital tools and technologies, can transform lives. The improved health outcomes and the positive feedback from our members inspires us each year to meet members where they are so they can live great — even healthier — lives."

"It's incredible. I saw the numbers on the scale coming down, I saw my blood sugar coming down, and my doctor took me off medication," said Blue Shield of California member Trent Charlton of Irvine, Calif., on his experience with Virta, offered on the Wellvolution platform. "I now know how to control [diabetes] on my own without medication. I can lose weight, feel good, be more active, feel healthy and live longer."

"Over the past five years, we have worked closely with Blue Shield of California to guide members to personalized digital health solutions addressing an expanding array of chronic conditions," said John Santelli, interim CEO at Solera Health, "We pride ourselves on curating a comprehensive, high-quality network, and look forward to continuing our work with Blue Shield to improve the lives of Californians by preventing and improving a range of health conditions."

Since 2019, Wellvolution has evolved to meet the diverse needs of Californians. In 2023, Wellvolution expanded to reach three new groups — Medi-Cal beneficiaries, Spanish speakers and members who struggle with high blood pressure. Recently, the platform introduced new programs to address musculoskeletal (MSK) health needs. As part of Wellvolution's continued expansion, three new programs have now been added to the platform: Ciba, Digbi, and Wondr, and offerings from Dario Health now include diabetes management.

• Ciba Health: A digital health platform that uses a root-cause approach, digging into the drivers of weight gain, to prevent, treat and reverse diabetes and obesity.
• Digbi Health: An experienced care team uses genetics, gut microbiome and clinical data to deliver personalized treatment for obesity, cardiometabolic and digestive health issues.
• Wondr Health: A digital behavior-change program with personalized content and tools for long-term weight loss, reduced health risks, better sleep, less stress and more.
• DarioHealth: In addition to hypertension offerings available to members since late 2023, this diabetes management program from DarioHealth offers personalized tools (including unlimited test strips and lancets, and a blood sugar testing device that plugs into one's phone) and coaching for better blood sugar management and better health.

Members can go to Wellvolution.com or Wellvolution.com/es to create a new account and fill out the health questionnaire to get started with Wellvolution.

About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. The health plan is a tax paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with more than 4.8 million members, over 7,100 employees and more than $25 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $77 million to the Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last three years to have an impact on California communities.

For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com. 

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About Solera Health 
Solera is changing lives by guiding people to better health solutions that work. Solera's value-based technology platform enables successful interventions that address the most prevalent and costly chronic conditions. Solera matches consumers to their best-fit solution within carefully curated networks of digital and community-based point solutions and drives superior engagement and outcomes by managing performance. Solera's technology platform serves payers and employers by streamlining, integrating, and creating accountability in the point solution ecosystem. For more information, visit www.soleranetwork.com. 

SOURCE Blue Shield of California