Omada Health has signed on with Optum Rx to participate in its Weight Engage program, furthering the company’s ability to scale its offerings to reach more people who need cardiometabolic care and support.
The pharmacy benefit management giant—which is one of the industry’s Big Three firms—launched the program in response to the demand for GLP-1s, as patients seeking these drugs face spotty coverage and often a thicket of barriers in the way.
Optum said in a post that adherence can also be a challenge, as some patients may face uncomfortable side effects, or may be unresponsive to the medications. That makes having a more holistic, wrap-around model in place to support their journey crucial, the PBM said.
That’s where Omada comes in. Optum is also working with Calibrate and Virta Health under the program, per the announcement.
Omada President Wei-Li Shao said in an interview with Fierce Healthcare that the company’s platform is aimed to fill the gaps in the patient care journey to support that long-term care path and promote adherence.
Omada is able to prescribe GLP-1s to patients “in a clinically supervised way” and then connect them to a support program designed to meet their needs, he said.
“Access and affordability are huge concerns not only for people that are suffering from obesity and other cardiometabolic conditions,” Shao said.
He said that the partnership and broader program is a massive win for employers who are desperate for solutions to meet the demands and expectations of their workforces. In addition, many of these firms, lack for options, through their health plan or PBM, and so may make coverage decisions they’re not ultimately satisfied with.
In partnering with Optum Rx, Omada now has relationships with the three largest firms in this space, growing the potential pool of options for these employers to pick from.
“One thing that’s true, universally, many of them are still not completely satisfied with the decision they’ve made,” said Shao. Many of these firms “want to cover [GLP-1s] but can’t find actually the right path.”
The expansion in reach also supports Omada in its growth trajectory and puts the company’s tools in front of even more employers, he said. The demand is there, Shao said, and they’ve seen that interest extend to other products, such as the recently-launched cholesterol management program.
“It really is about the ability to provide increasing value and innovation, engagement and outcomes to our members,” he said.
Publisher: Source link
