Direct to Consumer Telehealth Diabetes Prevention Programs Increase Access

Digital health companies have been selling to employers and health plans as a way to rapidly increase their revenue. My own company Fruit Street does this as well, but I’m concerned that this business model leaves out a group of Americans who could be benefiting from these digital health programs.

There are more and more workers who don’t work at a big corporation like Google with a comprehensive benefits plan. What about people who are freelance construction workers, undocumented immigrants, gig economy workers, or my favorite man Farook at the Halal cart outside my apartment in Manhattan? These people are left out. These are the individuals often at the highest risk for conditions such as type 2 diabetes.

It’s for this reason that I believe it is important for consumers to be able to sign up for our diabetes prevention program for a low-cost monthly subscription ranging from $19.99 to $29.99 per month. For this low cost, participants would be able to participate in our 12-month program which includes 26 classes with a dietitian via the Fruit Street mobile app that has zoom embedded into it. They would have access to a clinically proven way to reduce their risk for Type 2 diabetes by more than 58 percent which was proven in a clinical trial that Medicare spent over $175 million on.

It would be even better if the government would pay for diabetes prevention for every American, but short of that we believe that a low cost monthly subscription fee ranging from $19.99-$29.99 per month would be affordable enough for a large percentage of the US population. We are planning to advertise our DPP program to consumers in the future on television and via social media channels. This will help to educate those who don’t know they have prediabetes that they may have the condition by taking a one minute risk quiz in our mobile app. Then if they are at a high risk for diabetes, they will have a simple way to sign up for a CDC endorsed diabetes prevention program.

This would also make it easier for physicians to refer their patients who may not be covered by their insurance. Physicians could refer their prediabetic patients to download the Fruit Street mobile app and pay $19.99 or $29.99 per month ($5–7.50 per week) for access to a service that really can improve their health.

I have great hope for offering a low cost direct to consumer diabetes prevention program that gives access to every American.