Alliances with Lifestyle Medicine for Wellness as a Service (WaaS)
Ingrid Edshteyn ACLM/Valia Lifestyle
Description:
The current health system has yet to fully embrace proactive, precision wellness products and services. In part, this is due to the foundational business model of health systems being at odds with keeping people out of reactive care. Future hope exists in the expansion of value-based care, where better health for patients and populations now aligns with an underlying at-risk business model.
What works as effective and efficient strategies in preventing and treating chronic illness, the reason for 75% of our health expenditures, has been known for decades. A group of champions for these methods, known as the practice of Lifestyle Medicine, has been steadily growing as a movement in the US and internationally. The core principles include improving lifestyle behaviors, with therapy that consists of nutrition, movement, and emotional well-being. Having the clinician involved in recommending the wellness program is a key driver for consumer interest in enrollment and continuation as a result of accountability with a trusted provider.
Therefore, there is the potential for alliances with champions of Lifestyle Medicine to bolster the Wellness as a Service movement, while the health system is in this transition to value based care. This session will explore the opportunities for collaboration, describing how each partner can contribute for proactive, precision wellness.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the challenges in aligning wellness offerings within the current reactive care based health system
- Recognize potential wellness champions in Lifestyle Medicine advocating for a shift to a proactive population health system
- Identify strategies to align with these leaders to synergistically enable WaaS