After an experiment with its employees, Aetna is offering large employers a personalized engagement service to help workers mitigate one of modern life's most pernicious health conditions.
Aetna has signed a commercial agreement with Newtopia, a Toronto-based company using genetic testing and behavioral therapy as an intervention for metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that include abdominal fat, high triglycerides, hypertension and high blood sugar that can lead to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Under the deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, Newtopia's engagement platform will be made available to Aetna's largest employer clients and their workers, and it could be expanded to other membership in the future, the insurer said.
"We're very excited about our new collaboration with Newtopia, and its potential to help members address metabolic syndrome in a uniquely personalized way," said Greg Steinberg, MD, Aetna's head of clinical innovation. "Newtopia provides an opportunity for individuals to be inspired by a health engagement platform that allows them to develop healthy habits to meet their own unique lifestyles."
By some estimates, 80 million Americans meet the criteria for metabolic syndrome, putting them at increased risk of diabetes, heart attacks, stroke and early death and disability. Adults with three or more of the metabolic risk factors are five times more likely to develop diabetes and twice as likely to develop heart disease.
Newtopia was started on the idea that those risk factors can be eliminated or mitigated, that people can be motivate to be more active, eat healthier or eat less, and quit smoking or reduce alcohol consumption, while understanding "it's not their fault necessarily," said Jeff Ruby, the company's founder and CEO.
Ruby, the former COO of Cleveland Clinic Canada, said he was inspired to probe the intersection of heredity and personal responsibility by his father, who died at age 54 from cancer and what doctors told him was a poor lifestyle.
In a 2013 interview, Ruby said that Newtopia is trying to "reinvent weight loss" -- a tall order admittedly. But he believes a mix of genetic testing, digital engagement and personalized coaching can be successful where others aren't. "I want to change people's perspective away from thinking about either losing weight by eating right or exercising, towards a more holistic goal in bringing together nutrition, exercise and behavioral well-being," he said.
The company's program starts with a personality assessment and a genetic test, screening for gene variations associated with obesity, appetite and behavior, including DRD2, a gene that controls dopamine regulation and may promote addictive behavior like overeating. For some people with overeating problems, it's like they aren't getting the "stop function" to let them know they're full, Ruby said.
Newtopia uses the genetic findings to craft a personalized behavior change program, along with other questions, Ruby said: "How ready are they to change, what kind of motivations do they have, and what kind of personality type do they have?" Do they benefit from short informational sessions, or are they long-form learners best fit for longer coaching sessions. From there, individuals can receive live or online coaching on nutrition, exercise and habits, and can use mobile lifestyle tracking apps or gaming.
Aetna is bringing Newtopia to large groups after piloting the program with 500 of its employees with metabolic syndrome.
Analyzing key health markers and health benefit claims in the pilot program, Aetna "verified that participants lost weight, reduced their waist size and had high levels of engagement," said Steinberg. About 85 percent of pilot participants lost weight and 70 percent lost weight with "clinical significance," according to Newtopia. After one year, the average weight lost per-participant was 16.5 pounds, about twice the wellness industry average, according to the company.
Among other Newtopia clients is one of Aetna's large self-funded TPA customers, Jackson Laboratories, a research and genomics nonprofit based in Bar Harbor, Maine, that is also a pioneer wellness and value-based health benefits. At-risk Jackson Labs employees were offered the program and after six months, the average participant lost 9.3 pounds, according to a Newtopia case study