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Lifestyle Modification Strategies to Support Those Living with Obesity and Diabetes

Lifestyle Modification Strategies to Support Those Living with Obesity and Diabetes

Timothy Law, DO

Chief Medical Officer,
Highmark Health

Dr. Law is telehealth lead on Highmark’s Covid-19 Command Center team, and led the team in the organization of adding over 1000 codes for inclusion in the coverage policy during the pandemic, helping to bring virtual care to patients in the midst of a pandemic.

A board certified physician with two decades of clinical experience, Dr. Law serves as the Medical Director and Principal Investigator of the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI) at Ohio University with multiple NIH grants funding research in healthy aging and wellness.

Dr. Law is in active clinical practice as a rural Family Doctor in Central Ky. He uses virtual health and house calls to perform full service family medicine to include obstetrics and minor orthopedic and dermatologic surgeries.

He also took his post graduate aesthetics training at the Pfenninger Procedural Institute nearly 20 yrs ago. He currently does traveling Botox and Filler parties around the country and is collaborating medical director for his aesthetics practice in Beverly Hills, CA.

Lauren Driscoll

Founder & CEO, NourishedRx

Lauren is the founder & CEO of NourishedRx and a Medicare Advantage subject matter expert. She founded NourishedRx to support health plans’ efforts to address the most actionable and critical non-clinical needs of their members — nutrition and social isolation. Lauren formerly led the Medicare business at Oxford Health Plans and also served as a Principal at Leavitt Partners focused on Medicare. She has an MPH from Columbia University and a BA from the University of Virginia.

Katherine H. Saunders, MD, DABOM

Executive Vice President &
Co-Founder, Intellihealth

Dr. Katherine H. Saunders is a physician entrepreneur and an internationally recognized expert in Obesity Medicine. She is on the cutting edge of effective and compassionate obesity treatment. Dr. Saunders co-founded Intellihealth, a software and clinical services company scaling and democratizing access to comprehensive medical obesity treatment. She practices at Intellihealth’s clinical services affiliate, Flyte Medical, and she is on faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Dr. Saunders received her undergraduate degree Phi Beta Kappa/Summa Cum Laude from Dartmouth College and her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College, where she became a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She completed her internship and residency training in Internal Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine, where she served as ambulatory chief resident. Dr. Saunders was the first clinical fellow in Obesity Medicine at the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Dr. Saunders is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Obesity Medicine. She hosts the Weight Matters podcast with Dr. Louis Aronne, she regularly speaks at international conferences, and she publishes extensively on Obesity Medicine and weight management. Dr. Saunders has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and she has been featured in multiple national media outlets, including Forbes, Politico, The Atlantic, Associated Press, Women’s Health, USA Today, Healio, Healthline, and HCP Live. Dr. Saunders also makes frequent guest appearances on a variety of podcasts, radio shows and TV shows including ABC’s Good Morning America.

Dr. Saunders’ recent awards and recognition include the Women at Weill Investment Competition, Brown Brothers Harriman 22 Women to Watch in 2022, Medika Life Top 30 Influencers Transforming Wellness in 2023, the Health Innovators’ Top Health Innovators to Watch in 2023 and New York Super Doctors 2023.

Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi

Senior Director of Lifestyle
Medicine,
Blue Shield of California

Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi oversees the operations and growth of a suite of clinically proven lifestyle medicine programs for Blue Shield of California’s members.  Angie and her team work to drive seamless operations, as well as enrollment and engagement in the lifestyle medicine interventions under the Wellvolution brand.

Specifically, Angie is leading work to rationalize and scale lifestyle medicine programs for this leading California health plan, so that members can benefit from improved outcomes, reverse chronic conditions and improve their quality of life.  She strongly believes that lifestyle medicine can transform the current health care model by introducing clinically effective, cost effective, and non-invasive lifestyle approaches into the care continuum. She, herself, has incorporated lifestyle medicine into her own life to prevent disease and live in optimal health.  Angie is strategically working to promote Blue Shield of California’s philosophy that lifestyle is medicine.

Prior to joining Blue Shield in 2010, Angie worked as the Wellness Program Manager at Visa, Inc. where she created and implemented a new suite of global wellness programs for Visa employees.  Part of her role at Visa was to incorporate Visa wellness programming with health plan offerings so that employees had a seamless experience.  Prior to her time at Visa, Angie served as the Fitness Director at the Sports Club LA in San Francisco where she oversaw a staff of 60 trainers, nutritionists, and sports coordinators.  In her role there, she also managed new-member fitness programs, trainer education, and direct private training sales.  She has also worked in marketing, business planning, and accounting.

Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi holds an M.B.A. degree from Golden Gate University, a B.S. degree in Business from the University of California, Haas School of Business, Berkeley, and is a Certified Holistic Lifestyle Coach.

 

Lifestyle Modification Strategies to Support Those Living with Obesity and Diabetes

By the numbers…

Diabetes:

According to the CDC National Diabetes Statistics Report, 38.4 million people have diabetes (11.6% of the US population). The total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2022 was $413 billion, including $307 billion in direct medical costs and $106 billion in indirect costs attributable to diabetes. Excess medical costs associated with diabetes were about $12,000 per person in 2022.

Obesity:

Based on data from the 2021 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the prevalence of obesity among adults in the United States was around 42.4%. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was nearly $173 billion in 2019. Medical costs for adults who had obesity were $1,861 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight.

With a focus on proactive, sustainable approaches, our expert panel will share insight into innovative programs and initiatives to address the challenges associated with obesity and diabetes. We aim to inspire collaboration and innovation in personalized care, leveraging technology, and interventions designed to facilitate meaningful and lasting lifestyle changes.

Discussion points include:

  • Expense of GLP-1s
  • Lifestyle modification as a way to reduce cost
  • Evidence-based interventions
  • Nutrition counseling
  • Physical activity promotion
  • Behavioral coaching

 

Timothy Law, DO

Chief Medical Officer,
Highmark Health

Lauren Driscoll

Founder & CEO, NourishedRx

Katherine H. Saunders, MD, DABOM

Executive Vice President &
Co-Founder, Intellihealth

Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi

Senior Director of Lifestyle
Medicine,
Blue Shield of California

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