Evernorth, the well being companies arm of insurer Cigna, introduced it has added 5 new packages to its digital well being formulary, together with choices from Massive Well being and Give up Genius.
The brand new additions to the formulary are Big Health’s Sleepio digital therapeutic for insomnia and its Daylight device for nervousness, Quit Genius’ alcohol use dysfunction and opioid use dysfunction packages, and HealthBeacon’s injectable medicine adherence device for inflammatory situations.
Evernorth additionally introduced 4 pilot packages, which is able to consider the chosen instruments for medical affect and consumer expertise. These pilots are Jasper Health for most cancers care, Zerigo Health for psoriasis and eczema, Hinge Well being’s new women’s pelvic health program and Lid Sync’s medicine adherence device.
The subsidiary mentioned the instruments included in its formulary have been reviewed by physicians, pharmacists and consumer expertise specialists, and meet Evernorth’s requirements for medical effectiveness, safety and privateness, worth and value. Well being plan sponsors can select to supply these digital well being instruments as a part of their advantages.
“Evernorth continues to broaden our Digital Well being Formulary to deal with unmet well being care wants of sufferers with power and complicated medical situations,” Dr. Glen Stettin, chief innovation officer at Evernorth, mentioned in a press release. “The newest additions give sufferers entry to new and reasonably priced choices to enhance and keep their well being whereas making it simpler and value efficient for our shoppers to incorporate these options of their profit plans. The Digital Well being Formulary is likely one of the methods we will join employers, insurers and sufferers with revolutionary, reasonably priced and evidence-based care that meet their broader healthcare wants.”
THE LARGER TREND
Specific Scripts, a pharmacy profit supervisor that’s now under the Evernorth portfolio, first introduced plans to launch a digital health formulary several years ago. It additionally added new instruments to the program in late 2020, together with Wildflower Well being’s app-based ladies’s well being providing, Give up Genius’ program for smoking and vaping cessation, and muscle and joint ache packages from Hinge Well being.
Evernorth has lately added different choices within the digital well being and well being tech area, together with a partnership with Bicycle Health for digital opioid use dysfunction remedy and an growth of its continuous glucose monitor coverage. It acquired telehealth provider MDLive final yr as properly.
A recent survey of 1,300 physicians by the American Medical Affiliation discovered extra docs noticed digital well being instruments as a bonus for affected person care this yr in contrast with 2016. Nevertheless, there are nonetheless issues about high quality and efficacy. A study published in JMIR earlier this yr discovered many digital well being startups weren’t clinically sturdy, missing medical trials or regulatory filings.
In the meantime, Massive Well being announced a $75 million Series C funding round early this yr, whereas Give up Genius closed a $64 million Series B in 2021. Irish agency HealthBeacon went public late final yr on Euronext’s development market in Dublin.
