Hinge Health, a startup that provides a digital solution aimed at helping patients with musculoskeletal pain, has launched a strategic partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and revealed the results of a randomized control study published in npj Digital Medicine.
Through the agreement, BCBS of Massachusetts has added Hinge Health’s offerings to its Emerging Solutions portfolio, which launched last year. The portfolio’s purpose is to give BCBS’ employer customers options on which solutions could help improve their employees’ health. It’s available to self-insured accounts with 1,000+ employees.
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
In a webinar on April 16 at 1pm ET, Aneesh Chopra will moderate a discussion with executives from DocuSign, Velatura, and behavioral health providers on eConsent, health information exchange and compliance with the CMS Final Rule on interoperability.
Other organizations in BCBS’ Emerging Solutions platform include Robin Care (for cancer support); Ovia Health (for fertility, pregnancy and parenting); Livongo (for diabetes management); and Omada (also for diabetes management).
“[BCBS of Massachusetts] approached us in the spring. We went through an extensive diligence process,” Hinge Health co-founder and CEO Daniel Perez explained in a recent phone interview.
In addition to teaming up with BCBS, Hinge Health has also announced strategic partnerships with Willis Towers Watson, BridgeHealth and Buoy Health.
According to Perez, the goal of these partnerships is to reach members that have chronic back or joint pain and to save self-insured employers money. The alliances also demonstrate Hinge Health’s “emphasis on distribution,” he said. “A lot of startups might build a great solution that has strong clinical outcomes, but they can’t reach members.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
In other Hinge Health news, a recent study published in npj Digital Medicine examined the use of the San Francisco startup’s 12-week program.
The study was a two-armed, randomized control trial of people with chronic non-specific low back pain. The 177 participants were employees and their dependents at participating employers, across 12 locations in the U.S. Those in the Hinge Health treatment group received sensor-guided exercise therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, one-on-one coaching, educational materials, team discussions and activity and symptom tracking.
According to the results, those in the Hinge treatment group achieved 62 percent improvement in chronic low back pain and 64 percent improvement in the pain’s impact on their daily lives.
All the study’s authors except one (Jeannie F. Bailey of UCSF) are employed and/or hold equity at Hinge Health.
“There’s a lot of snake oil out there in musculoskeletal,” Perez said. He noted that with the study, Hinge Health wants to separate itself and demonstrate its approach’s efficacy.
Photo: mediaphotos, Getty Images
