The Much-Needed Health Solution: Root-Cause Medicine Empowered by Tech

By Dr. Innocent Clement, CEO, Ciba Health

If you’re a professional in the healthcare space, you know that the mission to revolutionize our current broken and costly system is much needed. It sits at the top of everyone’s minds, mine included—Especially since 2020, when I started Ciba Health while simultaneously volunteering as a practicing physician in NYC emergency rooms during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There’s no doubt that we were in the trenches of reactive healthcare then. It made me want to put all of my energy into establishing a clear and effective path for proactive healthcare, and most importantly, for combating traditional medicine’s limitations of costly acute episodic care and impersonal “Band-aid” fixes. 

Even before the pandemic, I was consistently speaking with health plan executives, corporate heads of benefits, and total rewards directors, who expressed frustration with healthcare and point solution fatigue. They were constantly searching for one unified platform that could guarantee better engagement, health outcomes, and ROI. They wanted a permanent fix for healthcare.

What I know, and what evidence shows, is that scalable root-cause medicine is the answer to truly changing our healthcare system for the better. Root-cause medicine has the ability to get to the source of symptoms. It not only prevents and reverses many health conditions, but it’s the wave of the future. However, that wave can’t be ridden unless root-cause medicine is blended with a multidisciplinary care team, advanced labs that doctors typically don’t order, and the right cutting-edge technology powered by AI.  

More data and coordinated care, less chronic disease

Chronic diseases are responsible for seven out of 10 deaths in the United States, with 86 percent of healthcare costs coming from these conditions. Moreover, 90 percent of the nation’s $4.1 trillion annual healthcare costs are for patients with chronic diseases. 

Health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, digestive disorders, and autoimmune dysfunction faded into the background during the early days of the pandemic (as toilet paper became a hot commodity). Look at how many doctors limited appointments and non-essential testing/procedures to help preserve resources across the board. These conditions certainly didn’t fade in our emergency rooms. In fact, those with pre-existing conditions experienced greater complications from Covid. I saw it up close and personal.  

There were patients with common, complex, and costly pre-existing conditions in those emergency rooms, and at the time, EMRs were siloed and remote patient monitoring wasn’t mainstream. As a physician, I wanted access to more patient data points—from prior lab results, so I could also see what tests doctors failed to order in the past, to medical history and lifestyle factors. It would have helped me make even more informed decisions and deliver ultra-personalized care to patients. Pandemic or no pandemic, this is what patients deserve.  

If a root-cause medicine solution that merged a physician-led care team with advanced labs, wearable devices, and remote patient monitoring existed back then, perhaps the prevalence or incidence of Covid could have been very different. Perhaps preventative healthcare could have reduced the need for the drastic reactive measures that we saw. But, we can only move forward now, and use our past to empower our future. 

Root-cause results do the talking

Today, that root-cause solution, driven by a dedicated care team who’s empowered by technology, does exist in Ciba Health, and it’s making a big difference in the lives of patients. In fact, our multi-condition-focused program has recently received validation for clinical outcomes from Validation Institute, an objective, independent organization that evaluates data claims made by healthcare solutions providers. 

The 2024 report verified claims for Ciba Health’s studies demonstrating clinical outcomes for program completion (75%), improved blood glucose (3-point average reduction in HbA1c) and weight loss (30 pounds on average). This guarantees that Ciba Health’s multi-condition program can drive statistically significant blood glucose and weight loss for patients who complete the 12-month program.

Root-cause medicine is unique because of its ability to harness different data points across a patient’s lifetime, such as biomarkers, medical history, and the lifestyle behaviors that can drive or prevent disease, such as nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and stress. By tapping into each of these factors, and more, health can be transformed for the better, and for life. 

When you can pair physician-led care, and ongoing support from a registered dietitian and certified health coach, with advanced labs and integrated technology (such as remote patient monitoring and AI/machine learning), healthcare improves—at its roots. Most importantly, so do the lives of patients. 

Ciba Health partners with employers, health plans, benefits consultants, and providers to prevent and reverse common chronic health conditions. When you’re ready to make exceptional care the norm and reduce costs for everyone, schedule a call with our sales team to learn about our flexible partnership opportunities.