A Physician-directed AI-driven Mobile Approach to Preventive Care Management

By Shaji Nair, CEO, Friska.AI.

When it comes to providing comprehensive preventive care, more than annual checkups are required. A patient-facing approach is needed to support the establishment of a health-forward routine comprised of proper nutrition and exercise, mental and emotional health, and chronic condition management.

Numerous studies back this preventive care model, which produces wide-ranging benefits, from improved health outcomes to lower care utilization to lower healthcare costs.

Unfortunately, despite its known benefits, the US healthcare system has been slow in its uptake of preventive care for many patients; just 8% of Americans currently undergo routine preventive screenings and care. As a result, the US loses about $55 billion annually due to missed prevention opportunities. That’s about $0.30 for every dollar spent on healthcare services.

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

Emergence of Lifestyle Medicine

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, lifestyle medicine helps patients improve their health and well-being.

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

Preventive Medicine Barriers

For all the potential value of lifestyle or preventive medicine, several barriers exist 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, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and expanded access to health insurance, patient volumes are surging. This is particularly true across family and internal medicine, neurology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, endocrinology, and other specialties that benefit from preventative care models. Many patients are seen just once or twice a year, and the average length of a visit is about 18 minutes—a reality that amplifies 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 to comply with preventive care plans. The increasingly crowded fitness, nutrition, exercise, and wellness app market—there are already more than 350,000 health-related apps available worldwide—suggests that many patients are willing to try at least to adopt healthier lifestyles. The number of available connected devices like scales, glucometers, and blood pressure cuffs is also on the rise.

Unfortunately, while these apps collect data important to an effective preventive care plan, it is difficult for physicians to access. Nor is there sufficient time to analyze and convert that data into a personalized plan of action within the few minutes patients have with their physician.

And none of this begins to touch on the need for proactive interventions when A1c, blood pressure, or other critical readings begin to inch beyond healthy or safe levels.

The good news is that technology is rising to meet the challenge.

Wellness, Powered by AI

Advances in mobile technology, artificial intelligence (AI), interoperability, and data exchange have paved the way for physicians to seamlessly add aspects of preventive or lifestyle medicine into their care plans. Patients now have mobile access to robust, holistic health platforms that deliver comprehensive wellness plans incorporating daily exercise, meal plans, and stress relief activities. Some solutions also offer access to live or on-demand exercise or yoga classes, nutrient trackers, and even hydration trackers, which enhance patient adoption, satisfaction, and compliance.

Vendor-agnostic preventive care platforms can also aggregate and continuously monitor data from the patient’s EMR, fitness and health apps, and connected devices, analyze the information using AI-powered evidence-based algorithms, and alert the patient when action is needed. The information is 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, suppose a patient with diabetes needs to reduce their weight and bring down A1c levels. In that case, a holistic wellness platform helps 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. The platform continuously aggregates, monitors, and analyzes data and alerts patients when it’s time to exercise, when their nutritional intake is off, or when their insulin levels are too high.

Because the physician’s office is the source for these vendor-neutral platforms, the likelihood the patient will register for and use them as intended increases, improving compliance and outcomes. Physicians can also monitor the health of patient populations and subpopulations to optimize results under value-based care programs.

Real-World Impacts: Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders Center

One practice that is already realizing the benefits of integrating preventive or lifestyle medicine into its standards of care is Michigan’s Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders Center, which implemented a holistic preventive medicine platform to help manage its diabetic patient population.

A primary catalyst for the adoption was increasing 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, from patient history to clinical studies, supplemented with data from the patient’s glucometer and other smart devices and health apps. This aggregated information is converted into actionable insights and comprehensive reports to support informed decision-making and personalized care strategies using AI and advanced algorithms.

The Center—which is reimbursed for the platform’s use under preventive care services—provides patients free access to the platform’s mobile app. 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. These include daily exercise routines, meditation practices, and nutritional guidance. It also provides free access to live yoga courses.

The platform also provides advanced data analytics and detailed insights into cohort health trends to support population health management efforts. 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 patient population.

More time is needed to gather quantitative data on the platform’s outcomes. However, the qualitative indications are positive. Center patients have also embraced its use, sending compliance trending in the right direction.

Closing the Preventive Care Gaps

Physician-directed preventive health and wellness platforms provide patients with convenient mobile access to trusted information and guidance, empowering them to take control of their health journey through easier management of chronic conditions.

To ensure effectiveness, it’s crucial that underlying algorithms are grounded in evidence and provide a blend of holistic practices, ongoing and thorough data analysis, comprehensive communication and reporting tools, and patient-centric health management solutions—all while keeping physicians updated and in charge.