Level2™ Helps Users Gain
Real-Time Insights and Drive Better Health Outcomes
UnitedHealth Group has launched Level2, an innovative new
digital therapy that combines wearable technology and customized personal
support to help improve the health of people living with type 2 diabetes. The
combination of Level2’s real-time glucose monitoring, lifestyle changes and
one-on-one coaching helped some people stabilize blood sugar levels and flag
potential COVID-19 infections.
Diabetes is becoming more common in the United States,
with more than 34 million people currently living with this condition.1 Level2 helps
participants gain real-time insights about their condition and, for some,
successfully reduce spikes in blood sugar levels or even achieve type 2
diabetes remission. Additionally, Level2 is currently available at no
additional cost to more than 230,000 employer-sponsored, fully insured
UnitedHealthcare members, and will be available to select employers with
self-funded plans later this year.
Eligible participants who use Level2 receive integrated
tools, including a mobile continuous glucose monitor (CGM), activity tracker,
app-based alerts and one-on-one clinical coaching to help encourage healthier
lifestyle decisions, such as food choices, exercise and sleep patterns. In the
future, UnitedHealth Group may offer the Level2 model to support people with
other chronic conditions beyond type 2 diabetes.
Helping Americans Treat Type 2 Diabetes
After
Jon Alger returned home to Florida from vacation in New York City during early
March, he started showing symptoms of the flu — sore throat, fever and
headache. He felt really sick for two weeks, and eventually tested positive for
COVID-19.
Jon had
the added worry of his pre-existing condition, type 2 diabetes, which is a risk
factor for COVID-19 complications. The symptoms of COVID-19 also made it more
difficult to manage his diabetes, sapping his strength to stay active and eat
regularly.
“I felt
awful, had no appetite and had severe fatigue like nothing I had ever
experienced before,” Jon said. “I lost 15 pounds.”
Jon
struggled with a severe cough that made it difficult to catch his breath. He
worked to get through it while also trying to manage his diabetes, but didn’t
start feeling better until the end of March. Jon’s recovery was aided by
Level2™, a digital health therapy designed to help people with type 2 diabetes
more effectively manage the condition and even help move it into remission.
Level2
uses mobile continuous glucose monitors (CGM) and shares that data with health
professionals, including personal program coaches and physicians. This
real-time data stream helps identify and coordinate care for patients with
elevated blood glucose levels, allowing for earlier interventions.
“The
CGM was instrumental,” Jon said. “Since I was not eating well, my readings
continuously ran low and that feedback helped encourage me to eat something,
even when I had no desire for any food.”
Jon
remembers one time when his CGM indicated he should eat something, so he warmed
up a bowl of tomato soup. However, after finishing it, his glucose numbers
spiked. This confused him because he thought he’d made a healthy choice.
Jon’s
Level2 coach explained that the tomato soup spiked his blood sugar levels
because it’s high in added sugars and carbs. Knowing it’s a comfort food for
him, she found a way to fit the soup into his get-well plan by suggesting the
addition of frozen vegetables to increase the overall fiber. This helps slow
the absorption of carbs into the blood stream.
Tips
from Jon’s program coach and the CGM helped him take better control of his
blood sugar levels and fight off COVID-19. Now that he’s recovered, he’s
finding creative ways to add in exercise. Best of all, his A1C, a hemoglobin
that measures blood sugar levels, is down to 6.1 and it’s never been lower for
him.
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