By Shaji Nair

Comprehensive preventative care is more than annual checkups; it is an approach to care that supports patients in establishing a health-forward routine that includes proper nutrition and exercise, mental and emotional health, and chronic condition management. Numerous studies have shown that such care produces wide-ranging benefits from improved health outcomes to lower care utilization to lower healthcare costs.

Yet while the virtues of preventive care are common knowledge, the US still lags in its provision for most patients. Just 8% of Americans currently undergo routine preventive screenings and care and an estimated 63% of deaths are attributed at least in part to chronic diseases that are exacerbated by unhealthy lifestyle behaviors—and despite indications that nearly 80% of chronic disease could be prevented by healthy lifestyle behaviors.

As a result, the US loses about $55 billion each year—about $0.30 for every dollar spent on healthcare services—due to missed prevention opportunities.

Reversing these trends is the driving force behind the growing interest in lifestyle or preventive medicine and adopting technology tools to support both physicians and patients in adopting this approach.

A lifestyle medicine primer
Lifestyle medicine uses evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive behavioral and therapeutic lifestyle interventions to prevent, treat and manage chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. By integrating the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—nutrition, physical activity, stress management, restorative sleep, social connection, and avoidance of risky substances—into patient care, they help patients make lasting improvements in their health and wellbeing.

A lifestyle or preventive approach to medicine can address up to 80% of chronic diseases and has the potential to reverse the decades-long rise in the prevalence of chronic conditions and associated costs. It can also improve both patient and provider satisfaction. All of which aligns with the Quintuple Aim of better health outcomes, lower cost, improved patient satisfaction, improved provider well-being, and advancement of health equity.

Lifestyle medicine is considered by many to be the foundation for a redesigned, value-based and equitable healthcare delivery system for its focus on the lifestyle choices that lead to preventable chronic conditions.

Barriers to preventive medicine
For all its potential value of lifestyle or preventive medicine, there are several barriers to its widespread integration into care practices. For many practitioners, the primary challenge is a lack of resources—time in particular.

Driven by lower reimbursements, an aging population, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and expanded access to health insurance and, subsequently, demand for care, patient volumes are surging across many of the specialties that benefit most from preventative care models, including family and internal medicine, neurology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, and endocrinology. Many of these patients are seen just once or twice a year, and the average length of a visit is about 18 minutes. It’s a combination of realities that ratchets up the pressure on physicians who must squeeze as much care management as possible into each patient encounter.

Then there is the issue of ensuring patients have the information and motivation needed to comply with preventive care plans. The increasingly crowded fitness, nutrition, exercise, and wellness app market—there already more than 350,000 health-related apps available worldwide—suggests that many patients are willing to at least try to adopt healthier lifestyles.

But while many of these apps monitor and collect data physicians need for an effective preventive care plan, it is difficult for them to access it in a meaningful way. The same is true of the growing number of connected devices like scales and blood pressure cuffs. The data is there; it’s just not sharable. Nor is there sufficient time to analyze 3-6 months’ worth of data and convert it into a personalized plan of action for the patient within the 18 minutes they’re with their physician.

Those with chronic diseases such as diabetes may see their physicians more frequently, but time is still insufficient to do much more than evaluate key markets like A1c levels or blood pressure readings. And none of this begins to touch on the need for proactive interventions when readings begin to inch beyond healthy or safe levels.

In other words, while most physicians would like to provide holistic care for every patient, it is simply not possible in the current care environment. As is so often the case, however, technology is rising to meet the challenge.

Painting an AI-powered patient portrait
Thanks to advances in mobile technology, artificial intelligence (AI), interoperability, and data exchange, physicians interested in adding aspects or preventive or lifestyle medicine into their care plans can now provide their patients with mobile access to robust and holistic health platforms that bring together wellness plans including daily exercise, meal plans, and stress relief activities. Some solutions go a step further, offering access to live or on-demand exercise or yoga classes, nutrient trackers, and even hydration trackers, all of which enhance patient adoption, satisfaction, and compliance.

In addition to providing personalized health guidance, vendor-agnostic platforms aggregate data from the patients’ electronic medical record (EMR), personal fitness and health apps, and connected devices (e.g. smart scales, glucose meters, BP cuffs). Evidence-based algorithms and AI are applied to continuously monitor and analyze the information and alert the patient when action is needed or recommended. This data and analysis are also shared with the physician’s office and, in some cases, integrated into the practice’s EHR, triggering alerts when clinical intervention is needed. It is also readily available for review with the patient during in-person or telehealth visits.

For example, if a patient with diabetes needs to reduce their weight and bring down A1c levels, these holistic wellness platforms help to ensure compliance by providing app-based and physician-approved meal plans and exercise routines—including access to guided fitness routines, nutrition trackers, and even meditation classes. They continuously monitor and analyze data submitted by the patient and their connected devices, alerting them when it’s time to exercise or when their nutritional intake is too low or high, or their insulin levels are too high.

Best of all, the physician’s office is the source of access for these vendor-neutral platforms, which increases the likelihood that the patient will not only register for but also use them as intended, thereby increasing compliance and improving care outcomes. This also allows physicians to monitor the health of patient populations and subpopulations to optimize results under value-based care programs.

Demonstrated real-world impacts
Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders Center recently implemented the holistic preventive medicine platform to better manage its diabetic patient population. A primary catalyst for the adoption was to increase care plan compliance—a struggle for even the most diligent patients. The platform provides evidence-based recommendations powered by machine learning models. It analyzes vast amounts of medical data ranging from patient history to clinical studies supplemented with data from the patient’s glucometer and other smart devices and health apps. Using AI and advanced algorithms, this aggregated information is converted into actionable insights and comprehensive reports to support informed decision-making and personalized care strategies.

The Center provides access to the platform’s mobile app to patients at no cost and is reimbursed for its use as part of preventive care services. Enrollment is initiated through an invitation from the practice via email or text message with a link to download the app, which patients then use to track their health data, communicate with the practice, and receive personalized health insights. Sophisticated algorithms assess individual health data and lifestyle patterns and create customized wellness plans delivered via the app that include daily exercise routines, meditation practices, and nutritional guidance. It also provides free access to live yoga courses.

In addition to individual patient management, the platform supports population health management with advanced data analytics that provides detailed insights into patient health trends. This enables Center physicians to identify high-risk patients, optimize care strategies, and implement proactive, personalized healthcare plans that cater to the needs of their entire patient population.

While more time is needed to gather quantitative data on the outcomes related to use of the platform, qualitative indications are positive. It has been well-received by Center patients and compliance is trending in the right direction.

Closing the circle
Through personalized health insights and recommendations, physician-directed preventive health and wellness platforms can provide patients with convenient mobile access to trusted information and guidance that empower them to take control of their health journey through easier management of chronic conditions.

The key is to ensure the underlying algorithms are evidence-based and that they deliver a combination of holistic practices, in-depth and continuous data analysis, robust communications and reporting tools, and patient-friendly health management tools—all while keeping physicians informed and in control.

About the author: Shaji Nair is CEO of Friska.AI, which offers an innovative healthcare platform that leverages advanced AI and mobile technology to enhance patient care by empowering individuals to partner with their physicians to take control of their health journey.