Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value is a thought-leader within the space of healthcare innovation for both large and midsize employers helping to drive better outcomes and reduced costs.
Florida Alliance’s members, including top Fortune 500 employers like Lockheed Martin and leading banking and financial institutions, were brought together for a special conference sponsored by DayTwo entitled ‘Precision Medicine Is Here: Preventing Metabolic Disease with Food-as-Medicine.’
Metabolic disease affects ~75% of US Adults, and represents a cluster of diseases including diabetes, prediabetes, clinical obesity and NASH. With an aligned focus on metabolic disease as the biggest cost-concern for employers, and 1-in-7 health care dollars spent on the disease, DayTwo led the agenda that shined a light on traditional diabetes programs which have failed to halt or improve the course of the disease. DayTwo’s breakthrough science proves that traditional one-size-fits-all approaches or basic monitoring and education is outdated.
“People respond differently to the same food in different ways. So a muffin that spikes one person’s blood glucose might not affect someone else’s and this is a really big deal when you think about the dietary recommendations that have traditionally been put forth in preventing and managing diabetes.”
Karen van Caulil, President and CEO, Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value
DayTwo’s innovative approach combines the latest gut microbiome science, leading tech in the form of a digital app and behavior change coaching from certified diabetes care and education specialists to meet people where they are, including the use of hyper-personalized Food Prescriptions™. The founding science, recently cited by the National Institutes of Health in their $150 million strategic plan, proves that specific foods and food combinations affect each individual’s blood sugar levels differently.
“For many years we thought that the barrier to success was all about an information gap and never did we really look at the emotional gaps which are very personal and relevant for ongoing engagement. This has been a terrible challenge for many employers where it’s down to 10 percent or less at 90 days. We have to start thinking differently.”
Jan Berger, CEO of Health Intelligence Partners
DayTwo uses behavioral science techniques delivered through telehealth with the support of certified diabetes care and educational specialists to rectify this challenge. Moreover, from a science standpoint, many programs that attempt to control blood glucose through a combination of medications, monitoring and generic education have not been able to put the disease in remission. DayTwo’s precision nutrition solution is now achieving just that: enabling a path to remission as measured by lowering A1C, improving Time in Range, reducing weight, reducing medications—and achieving +80% engagement after one year. This is largely due to meeting people where they are in terms of food, family and culture—employees can eat the foods they love with minor modifications based on their unique gut profile.
“Employers are in an interesting spot, they get all of the cost data from their claims plus additional information on absenteeism and poor job performance related to diabetes. The original idea for disease management programs was to intercept those costs and change behavior—The harsh reality is that some of the programs did have an impact to some degree and most did not.”
Jack Mahoney, MD, Florida Alliance For Healthcare Value
It’s understandable that some HR Benefits teams are feeling worn out from failed attempts to combat metabolic disease. But the most innovative employers are jumping at the chance to apply precision nutrition and technology for the benefit of their employees’ health and finally achieve a path to remission.
