Onduo is on a mission to shift the healthcare industry from being reactive to proactive and create a blueprint for value-based care — making “healthy” easier for all. Most of healthcare occurs outside of 20-minute doctor’s visits and outside of hospitalizations. Onduo concentrates on what happens at home to provide guideposts and direction.
Onduo CEO Dr. Vindell Washington shared more about Onduo’s vision, including his personal desire to create change:
“I joined Verily last year, attracted by the vision of filling the gaps between what happens in a doctor’s office and what happens in a person’s normal life with high-quality data from digital tools and predictive analytics. No one else has really invested in building out a complete solution, because this kind of care doesn’t fit within the structure of our current healthcare system. Verily is investing in building those predictive analytics engines and behavioral science-influenced interventions, and Onduo is a key vehicle to bring those forward to accomplish this work. We’re an augmentation of a system of care that delivers a more extensive and rounded experience. Part of the work we do is to provide services to members directly and then integrate with the broader healthcare ecosystem.”
Building off of industry-leading outcomes in type 2 diabetes, Onduo expanded their whole-person care model to include multiple chronic conditions. As the world becomes more fluid, with fewer labels, Dr. Washington applies a similar lens to chronic disease: "Early on, we found that 70% of our diabetic patients had high blood pressure. In order to provide the best care for that individual, it became clear that we had to at least think about diseases in clusters, not just isolated entities, to bring people to their best health."
By leveraging high-quality data and diverse data streams — accessed through contracted relationships and member-level user agreements — Onduo can paint a robust picture of a member’s daily life, and recommend care interventions when it is most meaningful to the individual. This adaptive model was especially helpful during the pandemic.
“We’ve found the flexibility of a model that includes virtual coaching, feedback, and app-based communication, which incorporates key wellness support such as stress management, makes a tremendous difference in how our members engage with their health,” says Dr. Washington “We also provided additional one-on-one coaching through the virtual clinic and broader guidance to members through webinars to ensure they had the latest information on how to keep themselves as healthy as possible.”
The expanded platform is designed to support patients managing type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, weight loss, hypertension, and mental wellness, with a future expansion planned for behavioral health. Onduo now provides Spanish language support to make the virtual care experience — through both the app and care team — available for Spanish speakers. This expansion signals a move into population health, where Dr. Washington sees Onduo providing great value in the ability to provide personalization at scale:
“What we’re seeing across the market is the beginnings of how to shift care from volume to value. Our foundation was built for a value-based system. We’ve built an incredible data infrastructure that can understand and stratify our populations and ensure that each person is on the right path. We create advanced real-time cohorts, where members receive messages based on their needs. As we learn more about each cohort, we can evolve the clusters, phenotypes, prioritizations, and recommendations. We believe each individual’s healthcare journey should be their own — we want members to have a personalized path powered by our engine and supported by analytics, a great user experience, novel devices, and digital interventions. We can do that when they start, and keep doing it as their care needs change over time.”
Onduo is not just advancing member engagement, but interoperability — working hard to improve the experience of health for all stakeholders. The company recently announced a multi-year partnership with their parent company, Verily, and Highmark Health to power the latter’s Living Health model. The Highmark partnership will expand the Onduo member base by up to 5 million additional members and create a ‘test and learn’ environment to understand how to improve member experiences by engaging individuals on their own terms. Onduo will continue to adapt their digital phenotyping engine, which enables coordination and optimization for each individual. Additionally, they’ll understand more about provider workflows to help pave the path to clinical efficiency.
“We need solutions that integrate the needs of consumers, providers, payers, and employers,” says Dr. Washington “Despite a growing number of solutions on the market, the cost curve is not bending — most solutions do not address the most complex needs and/or additive chronic conditions that further healthcare spending. We understand health happens on a continuum, with everyday choices and everyday behaviors, and we’re focused on building personalized solutions that maintain a holistic approach to the individual, extending better experiences to their entire health community.”