Evernorth expands digital health formulary to address substance use, anxiety
The formulary is a clinically based platform of "verified, credible health apps" designed to help people achieve their health goals.
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Evernorth, the health services business of Cigna, has expanded its Digital Health Formulary to include five new app-based programs designed to help people better manage their sleep issues, anxiety, alcohol and opioid use disorders, and inflammatory conditions.
The formulary is a clinically based platform of "verified, credible health apps" designed to help people achieve their health goals, Evernorth said.
Solutions on the formulary have been reviewed by physicians, pharmacists and user experience experts. Each solution must meet standards for clinical effectiveness, compliance security and privacy requirements, value and usability.
Evernorth Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Glen Stettin said the push is meant to address the unmet health needs of patients with chronic and complex medical conditions.
"The latest additions give patients access to new and affordable options to improve and maintain their health while making it easier and cost-effective for our clients to include these solutions in their benefit plans," said Stettin.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT
The five digital solutions added to the Digital Health Formulary are Big Health's Sleepio for insomnia; Big Health's Daylight for anxiety; Quit Genius for alcohol use disorder; Quit Genius for opioid use disorder; and HealthBeacon's Injectable Care Management System for inflammatory conditions.
Evernorth has also launched a series of pilot programs, with varying scope and scale, through the formulary, to further evaluate the clinical impact and user experience of solutions that address additional categories of care.
The four pilot programs are Jasper for oncology; Zerigo for psoriasis and eczema; Hinge Health for women's pelvic health, which will enhance Hinge Health's Digital Musculoskeletal Clinic that was added as a preferred solution in 2021; and Lid Sync for medication treatment adherence.
Benefit plans covering more than 20 million U.S. members offer solutions from the Digital Health Formulary to their members, and it delivers average administrative savings of more than $120,000 per solution, according to Evernorth.
Plan sponsors can choose to offer individual digital solutions or incorporate them into a connected care program, which integrates biometric data from the solutions with pharmacy, medical and lab data, with an eye toward protecting patient privacy.
According to Evernorth, plan sponsors can identify gaps in care and health opportunities more quickly than when using a standalone solution – ultimately leading to better health outcomes for patients, improved insights for providers and greater value for health plans, the company said.
THE LARGER TREND
Cigna launched Evernorth in a rebrand of its health services portfolio in 2020.
Evernorth has become involved in a number of partnerships over that time, many occurring just this year. February saw a partnership develop with telehealth company Monument in an effort to make it easier for customers to access alcohol use disorder treatment through its platform.
In April, Evernorth and integrated health system Kaiser Permanente entered into a five-year collaboration for health benefit access and specialty pharmacy services.
Initially, the agreement will focus on two main areas. One is access to Cigna's PPO provider network for Kaiser Permanente members who need urgent or emergency care, and are traveling outside of the health system's service areas. The second focus will be on specialty pharmacy services, with Evernorth President and CEO Eric Palmer calling it "an opportunity to unlock meaningful savings." The companies said the collaboration could potentially extend to more areas during the course of the agreement.
Just this month, Evernorth partnered with Bicycle Health, incorporating the latter's virtual opioid use disorder treatment. Less than a week later, the company said it would be expanding its diabetes program, and would add devices and other technological resources to its traditional pharmaceutical approaches.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com
