Omada Health and Optum Rx have announced a partnership designed to address continued high demand for GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.
The virtual health care company will participate in the pharmacy benefit manager's Weight Engage program, which brings together benefit navigation, behavioral coaching and access to clinically appropriate care to help people stay informed, engaged and supported throughout their weight-management journey. Calibrate and Virta Health also are partners in the program.
"Access and affordability are huge concerns, not only for people that are suffering from obesity and other cardiometabolic conditions," Omada President Wei-Li Shao told Fierce Healthcare.
Optum acknowledged that although GLP-1s are highly effective, they also present challenges.
"Medications can be expensive, coverage can be hard to navigate, and medication adherence can be difficult, because some people are not responsive to GLP-1s or struggle with side effects," the company said in a news release. "Without consistent support, people often stop taking them before they see meaningful health benefits."
Omada hopes to help close gaps in patient care and promote adherence by prescribing GLP-1s to patients in a clinically supervised way and then connecting them to a support program designed to meet their needs. Omada now has partnerships in place with the three largest PBMs, giving employers more options from which to choose.
"One thing that's true, universally, many of them are still not completely satisfied with the decision they've made," Shao said. "Many of these firms "want to cover [GLP-1s] but can't find actually the right path."
This partnership is the latest initiative by Omada to ramp up its health-care offerings. Earlier this year, it expanded its integrated platform to include dedicated cholesterol management alongside weight, glucose, blood pressure and GLP-1 support. Costco was its first customer.
Omada for Cholesterol is designed to complement primary and specialty care by addressing how cardiovascular risk builds over time, not just how it's measured in visits. By keeping members engaged in day-to-day behavioral change across nutrition, activity and medication adherence, Omada helps bend the curve of cardiovascular disease, rather than reacting only after acute events occur, company said in a news release.
"It really is about the ability to provide increasing value and innovation, engagement and outcomes to our members," Shao said.
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