Highmark Health launches diabetes management program with Onduo by Verily

PITTSBURGH and BOSTON, Feb. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Highmark Health is launching Well360 Diabetes Management, a virtual care program powered by Onduo, a Verily company, for adults with type 2 diabetes. As part of Highmark Health's Living Health model, the program is designed to give members simple, personalized, and proactive support to better manage the chronic condition, improve health outcomes and reduce costs.

The Well360 Diabetes Management program is now available to most Highmark health insurance members who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and are over 18 years of age.¹  Onduo will proactively reach out to those qualified members, who can then enroll in the program by visiting the Well360 Diabetes Management web page or downloading the Onduo mobile app. The program is fully virtual, accessible from anywhere on any connected device and with no cost to the member.²

"We're thrilled to be offering our first Living Health solution to a broad population of Highmark members," said Karen Hanlon, executive vice president, chief operations officer, Highmark Health. "As an on-demand access point to care, Well360 Diabetes Management is one milestone on Highmark Health's journey to unite payers, providers, tech innovators, and the community to build a health ecosystem that works better for everyone."

More than 37 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes in the U.S.,³ and one-third to one-half of them experience diabetes-related distress in any 18-month period.⁴ Further, the annual cost of diabetes is estimated to be $327 billion, which includes $237 billion in direct medical costs and $90 billion in reduced productivity.⁵

The joint pilot of Well360 Diabetes Management conducted by Highmark Health and Onduo saw 92% of participating members with a baseline A1C of 9.0% or greater improve their A1C by an average of 2.7 points upon follow-up.  Additionally, members who reported losing weight lost an average of 13.3 pounds, or 5.7% of their starting weight.⁶

"We believe that Well360 Diabetes Management will lead Highmark's members with diabetes to engage more proactively—and with actionable information—in a two-way dialogue with clinicians, who can intervene to improve short- and long-term health outcomes," said Tony Farah, MD, executive vice president, chief medical and clinical transformation officer, Highmark Health. "Eliminating fragmentation in health care can do more than improve traditional health outcomes and costs; it can reduce the everyday stress of managing chronic conditions, engage patients in whole-person health and improve their quality of life."

Once enrolled, members will be assigned a care coordinator to develop a personalized management plan and help with medication compliance, healthy eating, exercising and more. Other Onduo features include a virtual health clinic with access to endocrinologists and other clinicians, remote prescriptions, and care coordination with primary care physicians.

"Launching our type 2 diabetes platform marks a major milestone in Verily's relationship with Highmark Health and is a unique opportunity to deliver tangible innovations that improve access and health outcomes for millions of their members nationwide," said Vindell Washington, MD, chief executive officer, Onduo, and chief clinical officer, Verily Health Platforms. "Applied at scale, we can reimagine the care experience and improve wellbeing by delivering precision health support for health plan customers and members of Highmark."

Members will also receive a welcome kit with a smart glucose monitor,⁷ an at-home A1C test kit, a lancing device, and unlimited testing strips. The smart glucose monitor connects seamlessly with the Onduo platform so members' readings and progress can be tracked.

Employers with Highmark health insurance coverage can contact their client manager for more details on the Well360 Diabetes Management program for their members.

About Highmark Health
Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh, PA-based enterprise that employs more than 37,000 people who serve millions of Americans across the country, is the parent company of Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, HM Health Solutions, Helion, and Lumevity. Highmark Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates provide health insurance to more than 6 million members in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and New York, as well as dental insurance, and related health products through a national network of diversified businesses. Allegheny Health Network is an integrated delivery network in western Pennsylvania comprised of 14 hospitals, more than 2,600 affiliated physicians, ambulatory surgery centers, an employed physician organization, home and community-based health services, a research institute, a group purchasing organization, and health and wellness pavilions. HM Health Solutions is focused on meeting the information technology platform and other business needs of the Highmark Health enterprise as well as unaffiliated health insurance plans by providing proven business processes, expert knowledge, and integrated cloud-based platforms. Helion works with payers to cultivate high-performing networks while empowering providers to operate at their best. Lumevity helps companies transform in ways that drive direct financial benefits while improving quality and increasing employee engagement. To learn more, visit www.highmarkhealth.org.

About Onduo
At Onduo, we are dedicated to making healthy easier, more accessible, and more personalized with our science-backed, data-driven virtual care model—one that can serve people living with chronic conditions and the organizations supporting them. Onduo provides a whole-person care solution featuring digital, connected care with a human touch for diabetes, hypertension, weight loss and diabetes prevention. Enabled by technology built by Verily Life Sciences, LLC, we deliver lifestyle and clinical interventions that leverage deep analytics, connected smart devices, innovative software, and access to specialty care through our Virtual Clinic. Onduo was awarded URAC Accreditation in Telemedicine; Onduo LLC headquarters are based in Newton, Mass.

Onduo LLC and a network of affiliated professional entities (collectively, "Onduo") collaborate to offer certain care management and coordinated clinical care programs.

About Verily
Verily Life Sciences, LLC. ("Verily") is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. focused on life sciences and healthcare. Verily's mission is to make the world's health data useful so that people enjoy healthier lives. Verily develops tools and devices to collect, organize and activate health data, and creates interventions to prevent and manage disease. Verily partners with leading life sciences, medical device, and government organizations, using deep hardware, software, scientific, and healthcare expertise to enable faster development, meaningful advances, and deployment at scale. For more information, please visit verily.com.

¹ The type 2 diabetes offering is accessible to most Highmark Commercial fully insured members, as well as individuals enrolled in ACA and Medicare Advantage products. The program is also available as a buy-up for self-funded employer groups.

² Members with high deductible plans may have to pay out-of-pocket for some services within the program until deductible is met.

³ American Diabetes Association. Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017. Diabetes Care 2018;41(5):917–928.

⁴ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diabetes and Mental Health. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/mental-health.html. Accessed February 18, 2022.

⁵ American Diabetes Association. Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017. Diabetes Care 2018;41(5):917–928.

⁶ Onduo Highmark Quarterly Report Q3 2021. Data on file.

⁷ Only members who have high A1C or other complications may be eligible for a wearable continuous glucose monitor that automatically takes readings 300 times a day with no finger prick.

SOURCE Highmark Health and Verily