Virta Health helps people reverse type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions.
Virta’s mission is to reverse type 2 diabetes (T2D) in 100M people. Combining personalized nutrition with telemedicine technology, Virta helps patients to reverse their diabetes, get off medications, & lose weight—without drugs or surgery. Before Virta, diabetes reversal—where patients achieve HbA1c below 6.5% without the use of diabetes-specific medications—was available only through bariatric surgery or small clinics equipped to provide ongoing nutritional guidance. Bariatric surgery is invasive and expensive, and specialty medical groups don’t have the resources or technology to scale T2D reversal beyond a few local patients. This left the other 30M+ Americans with diabetes without options beyond increasing medications to manage their disease. Enter Virta. Our approach uses decades-old clinical research and cutting-edge telehealth technology to enable previously-unthinkable health outcomes, at scale. For instance, 94% of patients using insulin decrease or eliminate their dosage at one year. 63% of all prescriptions are eliminated at one year. This happens while blood sugar improves by 1.3 points, on par with the most effective T2D drugs. For payers, these types of outcomes represent thousands of dollars in savings for each member or employee with diabetes. Depending on the medication load, payers often see ~$3000-$6000 in savings per patient per year on medication alone. For patients, beyond improving their numbers, we’re seeing incredible anecdotes like “I took my first steps in almost 8 years” & “At the beginning of the program ... because of my back pain issues and MRI report, spine Doctor suggested surgery...well now the pain is gone from 10+ to 0-1.”
Virta’s tech-driven, remote care model addresses a fundamental misalignment between a T2D patient's needs and traditional medical practice. According to estimates, the average person with T2D makes around 300 diabetes-related decisions a day--over 109,000 diabetes-related decisions each year. Yet, when patients see their provider only 3-4x per year, for 15 minutes per visit, they cannot expect support for even a small fraction of those decisions. Within this framework, it’s near impossible for a physician to prescribe any treatment outside of medication, eating less, and exercising more. Diabetes almost always gets worse. Virta’s telehealth technology and continuous remote treatment correct that misalignment. First, our clinical team guides patients through sustainable adoption of nutrition therapy and lifestyle changes. As these changes take hold, Virta physicians safely de-prescribe medications. Virta patients often interact with our clinical team 2-4 times per day as they go through the diabetes reversal journey. In this model, 3 out of 4 patients remain with Virta at two years. With this high-touch form of telemedicine, key facets of the treatment, from maintaining Virta’s nutritional intervention to de-prescribing medications like insulin, are both safe and effective. Patients develop relationships with their providers, see results that incentivize adhering to the treatment, and actually get better month over month, and year over year.
Most digital diabetes programs presume diabetes is chronic and progressive, with a focus on managing symptoms through more medications or increased medication adherence. Virta’s approach is to treat the root cause of diabetes, restoring blood sugar to normal levels while often eliminating the need for medications, including insulin. Virta helps patients achieve these outcomes via its Continuous Remote Care technology. Through an app, Virta patients submit biomarker and symptom data—up to multiple times per day—to enable disease management in real-time. As more pressing issues are surfaced to the top of the list, this AI-enabled technology transforms doctors from working a patient “assembly line” into manning “mission control centers,” effectively managing thousands of patients in near real-time. This allows the treatment to be both cost-effective & efficient. Payers save money on not only medication de-prescription, but also fewer ER visits for T2D complications. Patients, who are members and employees, are generally healthier, happier, & more productive. Plus, many customers find that Virta works on their population when nothing else could. Through our work with Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, members have achieved transformative results, including: --A1c Reduction: 93% of patients reduced estimated A1c with an average decrease of 1.7% --Rx Reduction: 78% reduction in insulin prescribed after 12 months --Weight Loss: 69% of patients lost more than 5% body weight Beyond clinical impact, the partnership saved money for the tribe. At two years, the Pequot Nation reduced its total medication spend by 50%, amounting to over $3800 per patient per year.
Clinical trial data and patient testimonials provide two of the best examples of Virta’s successes. Outcomes: 94% of patients using insulin decrease or eliminate their dosage at one year. 63% of all prescriptions are eliminated at one year. This happens while blood sugar improves by 1.3%. Our patients also see sustained weight loss (2x the FDA benchmark for weight-loss drugs—but without the drugs). We also see significant improvement in other conditions, including markers of cardiovascular disease, inflammation and more. We have 9 peer-reviewed publications on our results, and see similar outcomes among our commercial patients. Link here: https://www.virtahealth.com/research Testimonials: Here are just a few of our patient stories: -- Donnie, who eliminated two types of insulin, lost 20 pounds, and improved his A1c from 11% to 6% in just 4 months -- Abbie, who lost 45 pounds, eliminated her injectable medications, improved her A1c by 5 points, and even after a year on Virta continues to see improvement -- Mario, who moved his A1c from 11.6% to 5.1% and lost 40 pounds in 6 months, and has the energy and mobility to play basketball with his daughter again -- Lori, who avoided expensive bariatric surgery after finding Virta, and is no longer on any medications for diabetes or multiple sclerosis. She also lost over 70 pounds -- Greg, who no longer needs Novolog or metformin, has improved his triglycerides from 500 mg/dL to 129 mg/dL, & has returned to his love of hiking Other patients have shared their stories on local TV across the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvu4NxO51ig
The diabetes epidemic continues to worsen. Employers are struggling to control costs, spending $16k per person per year with diabetes. In a sea of disappointing solutions for payers and patients alike, Virta stands out with a novel, technology-powered care model that delivers transformational results and can scale to treat millions.
