ReShape Lifesciences Inc. (OTCQB:RSLS), a leading developer and distributor of minimally-invasive medical devices to treat obesity and metabolic diseases, today announced a partnership with inHealth Lifestyle Therapeutics (formerly inHealth Medical Services), a Lifestyle Therapeutics company, to launch the ReShapeCare™ virtual health coaching program this month.
SAN CLEMENTE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 22, 2020 / ReShape Lifesciences Inc. (OTCQB:RSLS), a leading developer and distributor of minimally-invasive medical devices to treat obesity and metabolic diseases, today announced a partnership with inHealth Lifestyle Therapeutics (formerly inHealth Medical Services), a Lifestyle Therapeutics company, to launch the ReShapeCare™ virtual health coaching program this month. The new service is tailored to patients under treatment for obesity, those who may have lost continuity of care, and patients pursuing weight loss surgery and medically supervised weight loss programs. ReShapeCare will enable bariatric surgeons and physicians to optimize management of their patients’ care by providing a turn-key, personalized service proven to improve treatment and health outcomes for obesity and associated chronic disease while reducing administrative encumbrances.
“At a time when providers are grappling with the impact of COVID-19 on their patients and practices, we are accelerating our plans to offer an outcomes-focused, high-touch virtual service that enhances patient engagement between required practice visits and is adaptable to their daily lives,” said Bart Bandy, CEO and President, ReShape Lifesciences. “We selected inHealth as our chosen provider based on the high quality of their coaches, their exceptional telehealth-enabled platform with a unique reimbursement system for practices, and the strong body of clinical research that proves their method works. Emerging from the effects of this pandemic and recognizing how all of our lives may be changed moving forward, we are excited to introduce this progressive lifestyle centered program that will assist healthcare providers in empowering their patients throughout their weight loss journey.”
ReShapeCare is a live, telehealth-based coaching program that provides online weight loss coaching and lifestyle therapy for patients affected by obesity and its associated comorbid conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. Through the service, patients are matched with a dedicated, certified health coach and enjoy one-on-one video sessions with exclusive access to validated educational resources. The service must be prescribed by a physician, can be customized to their practice, and is covered by most insurance plans.
Published clinical studies demonstrate that virtual health coaching leads to more adherent patients and more successful weight loss outcomes. In a 2017 study published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare[i], 69.2% of patients achieved weight loss with a 12-week telemedicine-based weight loss program versus just 8% in the control group that received initial instructions and recommendations although they also had access to the same virtual platform and devices throughout the 12 weeks.
Rashmi S. Mullur, MD, Chief of Telehealth at the VA Greater Los Angeles, endocrinologist at UCLA Health and an investigator on the study, said, “Our study demonstrated the clinical benefit of telehealth-based coaching for improved weight loss. We were able to increase patient access, via video visits, and elevate the level of care we can provide. Our model showed that this approach increases patient adherence and motivation, and allows for greater, shared decision-making responsibility between providers and their patients to reach their health goals.”
ReShapeCare acts as a seamless extension of a healthcare provider’s practice, driving new revenue at a time when many physicians are bracing for the opposite. The program can be customized to support existing programs of care and provides HIPAA-compliant dashboard reports for the individual medical supervision of enrolled patients. ReShapeCare will be available as a pre- and post-operative service and is appropriate for all bariatric surgery and medically supervised weight loss patients.
“Medical device innovators like ReShape Lifesciences understand that without proper outpatient care and support, a patient’s health goals are at risk. To ensure that patients maintain their weight loss, and manage or reverse their chronic disease, we must treat the major underlying cause of that disease: their lifestyle,” said Aubrey Jenkins, Co-Founder and President, inHealth Lifestyle Therapeutics. “Our Lifestyle Therapeutics are a perfect complement to the ReShape Lifesciences mission, extending the care their providers deliver and enveloping their patients with a whole health solution that works.”
For those providers interested in learning more, please email customerservice@reshapelifesci.com. For more information on ReShape Lifesciences visit www.reshapelifesciences.com. For more information on inHealth and its work with private practices and corporate partners, visit www.inhealthonline.com.
About inHealth Lifestyle Therapeutics
inHealth is a Lifestyle Therapeutics company with a mission to unlock the human potential for preventing and reversing chronic disease. Our clinically validated, virtual solutions are scientifically proven to activate and sustain long-term patient outcomes, and delivered by trained, certified health coaches. Our Lifestyle Therapeutics can be prescribed by physicians, covered by most insurance, and delivered through our partnerships with clinicians, health plans, employers, and medical devices and digital health innovators. Like our services, we are a virtual company with team members all over the U.S., and we are hiring. To learn more, visit www.inhealthonline.com.
About ReShape Lifesciences Inc.
ReShape Lifesciences™ is a medical device company focused on technologies to treat obesity and metabolic diseases. The FDA-approved LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System is designed to provide minimally invasive long-term treatment of severe obesity and is an alternative to more invasive surgical stapling procedures such as the gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. The ReShape Vest™ System is an investigational, minimally invasive, laparoscopically implanted medical device that wraps around the stomach, emulating the gastric volume reduction effect of conventional weight-loss surgery, and is intended to enable rapid weight loss in obese and morbidly obese patients without permanently changing patient anatomy.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “may,” “intend,” “will,” “continue,” “future,” other words of similar meaning and the use of future dates. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of our management and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: risks related to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on our results of operations, financial condition or liquidity; risks and uncertainties related to our acquisition of the LAP-BAND system; our ability to continue as a going concern if we are unable to improve our operating results or obtain additional financing; risks related to ownership of our securities as a result of our delisting from the Nasdaq Capital Market; our proposed ReShape Vest product may not be successfully developed and commercialized; our limited history of operations; our losses since inception and for the foreseeable future; the competitive industry in which we operate; our dependence on third parties to initiate and perform our clinical trials; the need to obtain regulatory approval for our ReShape Vest and any modifications to our LAP-BAND system; physician adoption of our products; our ability to obtain third party coding, coverage or payment levels; ongoing regulatory compliance; our dependence on third party manufacturers and suppliers; the successful development of our sales and marketing capabilities; our ability to raise additional capital when needed; international commercialization and operation; our ability to attract and retain management and other personnel and to manage our growth effectively; potential product liability claims; the cost and management time of operating a public company; potential healthcare fraud and abuse claims; healthcare legislative reform; and our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our technology and products. These and additional risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those factors identified as “risk factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K filed April 30, 2020. We are providing this information as of the date of this press release and do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
CONTACTS:
ReShape Lifesciences Investor Contact:
Thomas Stankovich
Chief Financial Officer
949-276-6042
ir@ReShapeLifesci.com
ReShape Lifesciences Marketing Contact:
Diane Utzman-O’Neill
Sr. Director Marketing
952-460-0171
dutzman-oneill@reshapelifesci.com
inHealth Lifestyle Therapeutics Contact:
Amanda Guisbond
Director of Marketing and Communications
inHealth Lifestyle Therapeutics
aguisbond@inhealthonline.com
[i] Alencar, M. et al. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. “The efficacy of a telemedicine-based weight loss program with video conference health coaching support.” 6 November 2017. DOI: 10.1177/1357633X17745471
SOURCE: ReShape Lifesciences Inc.
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