Trellus Health announces Direct to Consumer market launch in the New York tri-state area

LONDON and NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Trellus Health plc (AIM: TRLS), which is commercializing a scientifically validated, resilience-based, connected health solution for chronic condition management, announces the launch of its Direct-to-Consumer ("DTC") offering in the New York tri-state area for people living with Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis.

The Company's DTC service will provide its resilience-based methodology to support adult IBD patients' clinical treatment plans through care coordination, behavioral skills training, expert disease education and remote patient monitoring. The program includes personalized whole-person care plans, the HIPAA-compliant TrellusElevate™ digital platform, telehealth services and remote access to an expert licensed care team including a nurse educator, behavioral health counselor, dietitian and resilience coach. Initially, Trellus Health will offer enrollment for patients over age 17 in the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with plans to expand into more than twenty states by the end of the year. With over 30 million residents, the New York tri-state area contains one of the highest concentrations of people living with IBD in the United States (c.250,000 patients).

Trellus Health partners with Connected Health Medicine PC to deliver telehealth clinical services using licensed healthcare professionals. Fees to access and engage with the Company's DTC service will be paid directly by patients or reimbursed by health insurance using existing current procedural terminology (CPT) codes with select commercial insurance plans. DTC pricing is lower on average than value-based B2B contract fees, and a discounted introductory monthly membership rate is being offered to build rapid awareness and recruitment.

As previously stated in the Company's trading update from December 2021, the focus for 2022 will be on recruitment of DTC patients and the establishment of additional demonstration programs and B2B contracts. This will enable Trellus to gather real world evidence to validate and reinforce the health quality and economic outcomes shown in the co-founders' published research, as well as informing further product development.

Recently published clinical research demonstrated that IBD patients show significant improvements in resilience and reductions in expensive unplanned healthcare usage by utilising the GRITT™ methodology and multidisciplinary care model that was exclusively licensed from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As greater evidence is amassed in 2022, the Company expects to enter regional and national multi-year contracts with US employers and health insurance payers from 2023 onwards. 

Monique Fayad, CEO of Trellus Health, said: "We are pleased to announce the launch of our Direct-to-Consumer membership for adults living with IBD in the New York tri-state area. Our DTC offering will accelerate patient recruitment, which is expected to make a material contribution to the number of patients under management via the TrellusElevate^™ platform by the end of 2022.

"IBD is a debilitating, incurable condition that requires behavioral support to cope with the complexity and challenges of daily living. Trellus Health partners with IBD patients and their GI Providers, offering behavioral, nutritional and clinical monitoring support and tools beyond traditional episodic medical care, with the goal of empowering patients, improving outcomes and reducing the need for unplanned hospital and emergency room visits. Healthcare providers can look to Trellus as a trusted extension of their gastroentrology practice that helps improve care plan adherence and outcomes through remote patient monitoring and access to much needed whole-person care."

Disclosure
The GRITT™ resilience assessment and personalized treatment methodology described is based on technology developed at Icahn Mount Sinai and licensed to Trellus Health. Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai faculty have a financial interest in Trellus Health. Mount Sinai also has representation on the Trellus Health Board of Directors.

About Trellus Health plc (www.trellushealth.com)
Trellus Health (LSE: TRLS) is a leading pioneer in resilience-driven care and the first digital health company focused on the intersection of chronic physical conditions and mental health. Trellus Health's digital-first chronic care management solution integrates convenient access to a licensed multidisciplinary care team with a suite of tools for resilience assessment, education and behavior modification, remote monitoring, health maintenance and prevention. Through its TrellusElevate™ connected care platform and companion App, the company enables coordination and delivery of expert whole-person care, addressing both clinical and behavioral health together, in context, to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs for patients, employers, and the healthcare system.

Trellus Health is commercialising the provision of digital chronic condition management solutions for employers and health plans that utilise the scientifically validated resilience-based methodology and a proprietary HIPAA-compliant technology platform called TrellusElevate™ to coordinate and deliver personalised care remotely via telehealth. The Company is initially focused on Inflammatory bowel disease ("IBD"), which includes the chronic incurable conditions of Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis, but considers its approach to have potential utility and demand across many chronic conditions. A direct-to-consumer (DTC) offering is also being devised for IBD, allowing patients to pay directly or submit claims for insurance reimbursement utilising existing procedural codes.

The TrellusElevate™ platform is the Company's proprietary connected health platform that incorporates the proprietary methodology and learnings on resilience from clinical research and practice conducted at the Mount Sinai IBD Center for more than five years. The proprietary methodology and resilience-driven multidisciplinary care model have been scientifically validated to demonstrate meaningful improvements in patient outcomes, 71% reduction in Emergency Department (A&E) visits, and 94% reduction in unplanned hospitalisations, which the directors of the Company believe indicates the potential for significant cost savings for healthcare payers. IBD patients treated using the methodology also experienced a 49% reduction in required opioid use and a 73% reduction in corticosteroid use 12 months following program completion.

The Company was founded by Mount Sinai faculty members Dr. Marla C. Dubinsky, MD and Dr. Laurie Keefer, PhD, both with decades of combined experience in IBD and psychogastroenterology, respectively. Trellus Health's patent-pending GRITT^TM resilience assessment and personalized treatment methodology was developed and validated at the Mount Sinai Health System to build resilience and wellness for improved outcomes at lower cost.

Shares in Trellus Health were admitted to trading on AIM in May 2021, under the ticker TRLS. For more information on Trellus Health, visit www.trellushealth.com

About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. We advance medicine and health through unrivaled education and translational research and discovery to deliver care that is the safest, highest-quality, most accessible and equitable, and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 free-standing joint-venture centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked in U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the top 20 U.S. hospitals and among the top in the nation by specialty: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Urology, and Rehabilitation. Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital is ranked in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Children's Hospitals" among the country's best in four out of 10 pediatric specialties. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked among the Top 20 nationally for ophthalmology. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools," aligned with a U.S. News & World Report "Honor Roll" Hospital, and No. 14 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding. Newsweek's "The World's Best Smart Hospitals" ranks The Mount Sinai Hospital as No. 1 in New York and top five globally, and Mount Sinai Morningside as top 20 globally, and "The World's Best Specialized Hospitals" ranks Mount Sinai Heart as No. 1 in New York and No. 5 globally and the Division of Gastroenterology as No. 5 globally. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

SOURCE Trellus Health Inc.