The Metabolic Health Crisis
A staggering 93% of Americans are not metabolically healthy, but what does metabolic health truly mean?
Metabolic health involves how effectively our bodies produce and utilize energy. It relies on the optimal functioning of cellular pathways that convert food and environmental sources into energy for every cell in the body. We play an active role in how well our body produces and uses energy through lifestyle behaviors such as diet, exercise, sleep, stress reduction, and more.
Clinically speaking, metabolic health is defined by optimal levels of five markers: blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference. However, our ability to modulate our metabolic state (even on a day-to-day basis) with our behaviors means metabolic health falls on a spectrum. On one side of the spectrum you have positive lifestyle choices, strong metabolic functioning, low risk of disease, and low healthcare costs. The opposite side of the spectrum is where you will find metabolic syndrome, a condition defined by having suboptimal levels of three or more of the five markers that define metabolic health.
1 in 3 Americans have Metabolic syndrome, the precursor to full-blown preventable diseases such as type two diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and is linked to certain types of cancer. The costs associated with treating chronic diseases such as these are leading drivers of our $4.1 trillion annual healthcare costs in the United States (CDC).
The Primary Care Challenge
Primary care accounted for only 5.4% of total healthcare expenditures in 2016.
Despite the well-recorded association between increased primary care physician supply and lower mortality, we don’t have nearly enough PCPs per capita in the United States (American Medical Association). Still, medicare reimbursement reductions continue to squeeze the profits of these providers. Increasingly difficult revenue cycles among an already burned-out provider population reduce primary care access, exacerbating existing health inequities. Predictions by the AAMC unveil a future where this situation continues to deteriorate. The projected shortage of primary care physicians in 2034 is 17,800 to 48,000, almost the size of all other specialties combined (21,000 – 77,100). But there is hope yet: the same changes in billing structures that ultimately leave providers responsible for outcomes without any prior tools or training, are what enables providers to generate revenue for providing much-needed preventive care.
Evidence-based Solutions
That’s where PreventScripts comes in.
Our enhanced care strategy includes systematic risk screening and research-backed patient behavior change tools that make it easy to identify and treat metabolic conditions before they progress. We put our solutions to the test at the forefront of the metabolic disease epidemic, and it is working for providers like you. We’ve engaged nearly 4,000 patients in their risk levels with our pre-visit assessments. Patients enrolled in our remote patient monitoring program have experienced a systolic BP reduction of 12% and a Diastolic BP reduction of 13%. Our patients are achieving the 5% modest weight loss needed to reduce their risk of disease onset. Here are the numbers:
+ 46% of patients are on their way and have lost 1 to 4% of body weight
+ 32% of patients have achieved the gold standard and have lost at least 5% of body weight
+ 21% of patients remain at a stable weight
