NUDJ Health's Virtual Lifestyle Medicine program Corewell Health touted Success
Corewell Health demonstrates the importance of addressing the root causes of chronic diseases.
The Michigan-based health system released data this month showing that its partnership with NUDJ Health is bringing meaningful health improvements to patients with chronic diseases, including substantial weight loss and symptoms of depression and anxiety.
NUDJ is a four-year-old Pasadena-based company that helps providers integrate “lifestyle medicine” into routine clinical care. NUDJ CEO Yuri Sudhakar explained that lifestyle medicine refers to the use of evidence-based interventions such as nutrition, exercise and sleep to prevent, treat or even reverse chronic diseases.
He noted that most patients with chronic illness left the doctor’s office, which he called “three Ps” (pills, procedures and brochures). However, their core risk factors – behavioral health and lifestyle choices – are largely unresolved, Sudhakar noted.
“They may be addressed in conversations about the need to do these things better, but that’s all.”
NUDJ is addressing this by integrating its lifestyle medicine model into the clinician’s workflow to expand care beyond care. Sudhakar said the model focuses on six lifestyle medicine pillars: stress, mental health, exercise, nutrition, sleep and social/behavioral risks, such as drinking or smoking.
Essentially, NUDJ provides a virtual interdisciplinary nursing team that works with regular visits from patients to improve lifestyle and behavioral health factors that are often overlooked in traditional care. The nursing team usually includes health coaches, nutritionists, behavioral health experts and group support.
These professionals work with patients to incorporate healthier habits into their daily work. For example, a health coach may put the patient in charge of walking after get off work Monday to Thursday, or a nutritionist can help the patient develop a healthy meal preparation plan for the week.
Doctor Corewell, specializing in cardiology, primary care and weight loss pills, begins referring patients to NUDJ's program in 2023. More than 3,600 Corewell patients have been recruited since then.
These patients either suffer from chronic diseases such as obesity, anxiety and depression or “just want to live a healthier lifestyle,” said Melissa Sundermann, director of lifestyle medicine at Corewell.
Clinicians introduce patients from there through EPIC and NUDJ – incorporating patients into personalized programs, tracking results in real-time and maintaining a cycle of referral clinicians. Patients can pay for the plan through their insurance or out-of-pocket options.
Sundermann noted that the partnership allowed Corewell to expand its lifestyle medical services by giving patients virtual access to group activities, which is a “important step” toward building a collaborative care model.
“Lifestyle medicine benefits Colwell health and our patients through evidence-based interventions by addressing the root causes of chronic diseases (such as malnutrition, physical inactivity, stress and substance use). Chronic diseases account for a large proportion of health care costs, and this approach can reduce costs by reducing the need for medications, hospitalizations and surgery,” Sundermann declares.
Corewell reported that the depression scores of its NUDJ patients decreased by 44% and anxiety disorders decreased by 39%. PHQ-9 is used to measure depression, and GAD-7 is used to anxiety.
The health system also said that NUDJ's program has prompted a 46% increase in patients' exercise capacity. Sandman said the patient's initial average exercise time per day was 28 minutes, increasing to 40 minutes.
The virtual lifestyle medicine program also resulted in 6% weight loss in enrolled patients, a 9% reduction in triglycerides and a 7% reduction in total cholesterol. The average initial triglyceride level in the patient was 136 mg/dL, down to 123 mg/dL. Sundermann shared their average initial cholesterol level was 189 mg/dL, down to 175 mg/dL.
Corewell plans to promote NUDJ's plan to clinicians and patients to expand its reach, praising the startup for “providing high-quality care and articulating the pathways that best suit patients' health goals.”
Photo: Half-point image, Getty image
