Toronto, ON – With healthcare expenses always seemingly on the rise, if you had the opportunity to reduce healthcare costs in your company by $1,464 annually per employee would you? Even if it means genetic testing each employee? Toronto based wellness company, Newtopia, and Hartford Connecticut based health insurer, Aetna, did just that. And it is gaining traction.
With genomic testing and precision medicine on the rise, Newtopia’s approach isn’t groundbreaking, however, introducing genetic testing to curb health and wellness in the workplace is new to us. In this study, the overall goal was to reduce the future risk of metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure & sugar, excess body fat around the waist and higher than normal cholesterol. Based on the annual study, 22.9% -25% of US adults between the ages of 18 and 65 meet the criteria. 76% of the study’s participants lost weight, an average of 10 pounds total which saved Aetna $1,464 per employee. When you have 40,000+ employees, you have astronomical savings.
We will continue empowering at-risk employees to take charge of their health and well-being while simultaneously helping business save on rising employee health care costs. – Newtopia founder and CEO Jeff Ruby
You can read more about the study’s publication here in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Why This Matters:
Genomic profiling and precision medicine are most often associated with the oncology disease state – matching genomic profiles of patients with personalized medicine to cure that individual’s specific cancer, rather than just treating with a broad sweeping solution. However this example along with several others (depression & ADHD to name a couple) that have recently surfaced show the traction genomic testing is gaining in several new areas to help patients identify a solution down to the molecular level. We’re excited to continue watching this trend and how it will potentially help shape the future of personalized medicine.
