Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) is tackling one of the most significant health issues impacting its employee population: obesity. Roughly 50% of MNPS’s adult high-cost claimants are obese—higher than the 41.9% national rate.
Obesity often leads to other serious health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea and osteoarthritis. Plus, obesity disproportionately affects minority groups, which make up 33% of the MNPS employee population.
On January 1, 2022, MNPS partnered with Vanderbilt Health Employer Solutions to offer the MyWeightLossHealth Bundle. The program takes a comprehensive approach to care and “bundles” all services needed for a successful weight loss journey—all at no out-of-pocket cost for employees. Each bundle features highly tailored support from a dedicated patient navigator.
Patients can choose either a medical weight loss bundle, which is a combination of lifestyle therapies and appropriate medication, or a surgical weight loss bundle through a gastric sleeve or laparoscopic gastric bypass.
The results were dramatic: In 2022, surgical weight loss patients lost an average of 22.4%, or 63.5 pounds at six months and 29.3%, or 81.2 pounds, after one year. For medical weight loss patients, the average loss at six months was 7.1%, or 17.4 pounds.
Overall, MNPS employees who participated in the surgical weight loss bundle have lost a combined 4,889 pounds and medical weight loss patients lost a combined 2,545 pounds. Plus, the program helped address obesity in minority populations where patients often experience more barriers to care.
What’s more, MNPS’s spend was reduced by more than $1,500 per year for patients who lost 5-10% of their weight, and more than $2,000 for those who lost 10-20%, making the MyWeightLoss Bundle a win for all concerned.
MyWeightLossHealth Bundle is part of Vanderbilt’s MyHealth Bundles. For more information on the impact of the bundles program, visit bundlesimpact.org.
