Obesity: Nudging Towards Health 2.0

Health 2.0 is 21st century health policy. It is about rational discriminating patients making decisions about their quality of life; it is about nudging people to participate in a wellness-and-lifestyle programme  (WLP) with timely and effective health care for better health and improved quality of life. Our client, Medfit Proactive Healthcare, is the first and only medical exercise, physiotherapy and rehabilitation facility in Ireland.  Medfit intervention not only increases mobility in a cohort of patients presenting with chronic pain, orthopaedic injury or limited mobility but the Medfit trial data shows improvements in MET scores translating into appreciably large cost reductions. The analysis makes use of HSE information, together with the CSO population projection data. Calculating the present value of the total cost to the State from obesity and the complications of type-2 diabetes in 2014 monetary terms (i.e. the capitalised cost to the State to 2046) at €9.98bn, a scenario in which the problems of overweight/obesity in the 55-65 age group are being addressed through the proposed WLP preventive health and wellness intervention at Medfit could potentially reduce this figure to €9.49bn, a saving of €490m.

In the counterfactual setting where inertia exists about health and wellness, where new ideas, technology and innovation are disrupting the health sector, we believe that the projected cost savings are sufficiently robust to nudge the narrative forward on treating expensive diseases in the latent risk age cohorts. Clinical trial data not only highlights the benefits of a real demand for WLP, complementing protocols for hip and knee replacements, chronic back-pain, obesity, type-2 diabetes, but it also allows an insurance provider to assign patients according to risk profiles based on both the statistical and clinical data. It also provides you with the opportunity to be healthier in the 21st century.  Short report is attached..MedfitWeb2015…..The final report is available from our client, Medfit, at www.medfit.ie