ST. LOUIS — Mercy received nearly $3 million in funding for a new intensive weight loss program for patients slated to begin next year.
Mercy’s Intensive Lifestyle Treatment for Weight Loss program will be available virtual and in-person at all 237 of its primary care clinics across four states, according to a press release.
The program’s goal is to improve patients’ overall health by achieving weight loss and lower health care costs by reducing hospitalizations for obesity-related conditions.
The funding was awarded from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) through its Health Systems Implementation initiative.
Work on the back-end technology for the program will start in December. The program for patients is anticipated to start in November 2025 and last through 2028.
Eligible patients will be referred to the program, self-schedule with a program team member and select individual or group visits, according to the press release.
Mercy health coaches will provide patients with informational materials and encouragement, and patients will report daily blood pressure and weight through text messaging.
“This project will focus on implementing an intensive lifestyle program adapted from a previous PCORI-funded comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) study showing the comparative effectiveness of a clinic-based group visit intervention for weight loss,” the press release states.
Eligibility criteria will include:
- Adult patients ages 18-85 with a Mercy primary care provider, Medicare ACO or Medicare insurance
- Body mass index of 30 or more with an active diagnosis of congestive heart failure, or a recent hemoglobin A1C level above 9.0
Mercy expects nearly 35,000 of its patients will be eligible to benefit from the program, according to the press release.
“The intent of the program is to implement it across all Mercy primary care clinics, receive feedback and ultimately expand the program to all Mercy primary care patients interested in weight management regardless of other diagnoses,” said Ursula Wright, Mercy chief clinical excellence officer.
The PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress. Its mission is to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research that provides patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information they need to make better-informed health and health care decisions.