The council unites leading risk-bearing entities, including health systems, health plans, ACOs and large self-funded employers, in the pursuit of health care transformation achieved through the Quintuple Aim.

ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 27, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has announced the formation of the Innovators Council, a group of leading risk-bearing entities that includes health systems, health plans, accountable care organizations (ACOs) and self-funded employers committed to achieving health care transformation through the systematic adoption and implementation of lifestyle medicine at scale.

Founding members of the by-invitation council include Humana, Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, Healthly and Lore Health ACO.

The traditional fee-for-service model of health care delivery, which rewards clinicians for the quantity--not quality--of services they provide, is not working. Despite the fact that the U.S. spends more on healthcare than other high-income countries, we continue to experience declines in both healthspan and lifespan. To improve patient outcomes and control costs, a fundamental shift is underway to a value-based model that emphasizes quality and efficiency of care. Lifestyle medicine, which addresses the root causes of disease instead of just managing symptoms, delivers high-value, whole-person care.

Innovators Council members will collaborate to accelerate systematic transformation by unpacking the complexity of system-wide adoption and implementation of lifestyle medicine. Collectively, they will work to improve performance in risk-based contracts, advance scaled workforce development efforts and explore novel applications of system-level integration through pilots and demonstration projects.

ACLM President Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM, called the creation of the Innovators Council a critical next step for the rapidly evolving field of lifestyle medicine and the transformation of health care.

"Momentum for value-based care is growing and the evidence shows that lifestyle medicine has the ability to prevent, treat and even put into remission many of the costliest and common chronic diseases," Dr. Frates said.

"As health organizations that assume financial risk in the course of health care delivery, it is vital that these members of ACLM's new Innovators Council be a part of the solution to achieve the Quintuple Aim of improving population health, reducing costs, enhancing clinician and patient satisfaction and advancing health equity."

"This is a new era for ACLM," ACLM President-elect Padmaja Patel, MD, FACLM, DipABLM, said. "From educating health professionals and advocating for a lifestyle medicine-first approach to healthcare, we now have a unique and unprecedented opportunity to collaborate with various stakeholders, including payers and ACOs, to showcase the value of lifestyle medicine. We are thrilled about the potential of these partnerships and look forward to working closely with each of them."

Quotes from Founding Members

Ben Quirk, founder and CEO of Healthly, said "The days of value-based care organizations taking physicians who are already performing well and giving them risk contracts are well past us. We need innovative clinical delivery models which truly slow and reverse unnecessary disease progression and its outsized corresponding spend. Lifestyle medicine fulfills that promise and we are lucky to have a forward-thinking organization like ACLM at the helm of that movement. The Innovators Council allows us to collaborate with fellow travelers at other leading organizations looking to break the mold of the broken health care system."

Tom Weigel, MD, MBA, vice president and chief medical officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield Vermont, said "As a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Innovators Council, Blue Cross Blue Shield Vermont is dedicated to advancing the principles of lifestyle medicine to promote sustainable health and wellness. The recent rise in the use of GLP-1 weight loss medications underscores the urgent need for effective obesity management strategies. While these drugs can be beneficial, they often come with significant costs and potential side effects. Lifestyle medicine offers a powerful alternative, not only aiding in weight loss but also enhancing overall well-being, reducing the risk of chronic diseases, and empowering individuals to take control of their health. Our commitment to lifestyle medicine reflects our belief in its transformative potential to create lasting, positive impacts on our members' lives."

Mark Briesacher, MD, senior vice president at Lore Health ACO, said "We share ACLM's goals of making it easier for clinicians to practice lifestyle medicine and making lifestyle medicine treatments more accessible for people of all backgrounds. Our biggest successes have come when we can get the incentives aligned so that everyone—payers, clinicians, patients, and pharma/device suppliers—wins when lifestyle medicine is used as a treatment. The ACLM Innovators Council is a place where all of these stakeholders can come together and find ways to do so."

Alex Ding, MD, Humana associate vice president for physician strategy and medical affairs, said "Humana is proud to be a founding member of the ACLM Innovators Council. The Council serves as a convener of key stakeholders to collaborate, co-develop and implement lifestyle medicine programs at scale. This acceleration of lifestyle medicine is an important driver toward re-focusing our health system to truly focus on patient health, prevention, and wellness."

Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi, senior director of Lifestyle Medicine at Blue Shield of California, said "Blue Shield has long recognized the transformative potential of lifestyle medicine in reshaping healthcare delivery in our nation. Assembling thought leaders through the ACLM Innovators Council is a pivotal tool for future collaboration and innovation. We are confident that the relationships formed through the Council will expedite and unify the process of introducing valuable, solution-based approaches to the market, enhancing the well-being of our members and other Americans."

Jessica Rigler, staff vice president for population health and innovation at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona said "Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is proud to be part of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Innovators Council and collaborate with other leaders in the field of lifestyle medicine. As an organization that serves over 2 million Arizonans, we recognize the importance of addressing the root causes of chronic diseases and empowering our members and our communities to make healthy choices that improve their quality of life. By partnering with ACLM, we hope to advance the evidence-based practice of lifestyle medicine and make it more accessible and affordable for our members and communities."

To learn more about the Innovators Council, visit Innovators Council - American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

About ACLM^®
Serving as a transformation catalyst, disruptor of the status quo, and a galvanized force for change, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine is the nation's medical professional society advancing the field of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a redesigned, value-based and equitable healthcare delivery system, essential to achieving the Quintuple Aim and whole person health. ACLM represents, advocates for, trains, certifies, and equips its members to identify and eradicate the root cause of chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. ACLM is filling the gaping void of lifestyle medicine—including food as medicine—in medical education, doing so across the entire medical education continuum, while also advancing research, clinical practice and reimbursement strategies. Adding years to lives and life to years, while reining in the alarming, unsustainable trajectory of healthcare spending, is what lifestyle medicine delivers.

Media Contact

alex branch, American College of Lifestyle Medicine, 9719835383, abranch@lifestylemedicine.org, https://lifestylemedicine.org/

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SOURCE American College of Lifestyle Medicine