AbilTo To Present at the 2015 American Diabetes Association Annual Meeting on Remote Delivery of Behavioral Change Therapy

NEW YORK, April 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- AbilTo, Inc., the nation's leading digital behavioral change company, announced today that its abstract submission has been accepted as a presentation to be included in the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) annual meeting taking place on June 5-6, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts.

According to the American Diabetes Association, the cost of diabetes to the American healthcare system in 2014 was $245 billion. As a result of increased inpatient, outpatient, and pharmacy costs, the cost of care for an individual with diabetes is nearly $13,700 per year.¹

To combat these skyrocketing costs, AbilTo's diabetes program focuses on the person rather than the disease by treating the underlying behavioral health issues, such as depression, stress, or anxiety, that are twice as likely to occur in patients with diabetes. AbilTo's program helps address and overcome these critical barriers to behavior change and as a result leads to improved medical and mental health.

"The healthcare system has made great strides in diagnosing and treating diabetes, but we often forget that the mental health of a patient is sometimes just as important as the diagnosis itself," said, Dr. Reena Pande, Chief Medical Officer, AbilTo. "Our presentation at the 2015 American Diabetes Association annual meeting will closely examine how AbilTo's remotely-delivered behavioral therapy intervention can break down emotional barriers standing between patients and a happier, healthier and more productive life."

"Type 2 diabetes affects 25.8 million Americans and prevalence is on the rise.  Far too often, it leads to increased depression  and poor self-care, resulting in higher medical utilization and cost," said, Aimee Peters, LCSW, Chief Clinical Officer, AbilTo. "Being selected to present our findings at the 2015 American Diabetes Association annual meeting validates the work that we do at AbilTo and the premise that remote delivery of behavioral interventions works."  

AbilTo's abstract is based on a retrospective, observational cohort study of 392 consecutive graduates of AbilTo's Diabetes program. The study utilized the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) administered at the initial consultation and again at the conclusion of the program to determine patients' Vaseline and program-end behavioral health outcomes. Full results of the study will be released at the 2015 ADA annual meeting in June.

A similar study, co-authored by AbilTo and Aetna, was recently published in the February edition of the peer-reviewed journal, The American Journal of Managed Care. The study demonstrated the impact of leveraging remote behavioral health interventions among patients who recently suffered a cardiac event on medical utilization and healthcare costs. In that study, participants of AbilTo's cardiac program experienced nearly one-third fewer hospitalizations and nearly 50% fewer total hospitalization days, which the six months following the program, resulted in an overall savings in the cost of care.

About AbilTo, Inc.
AbilTo, Inc. ("able to") is a population health management company focused on supporting high-cost populations, such as those with heart disease, diabetes, chronic pain and more. AbilTo's programs are administered by a therapist/coach team, and provide a proven solution to make people happier, healthier and more productive. The company's eight-week, evidence-based behavior change programs engage individuals and help them make measurable, lasting changes that improve their medical and behavioral health. For more information visit www.abilto.com

¹ http://www.diabetes.org/advocacy/news-events/cost-of-diabetes.html

SOURCE AbilTo, Inc.

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