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Healthy Interactions

Making rural health transformation economically sustainable

Healthy Interactions programs help payers strengthen program economics by enhancing reimbursable revenue and reducing avoidable costs, supporting self-sufficiency beyond time-limited funding (including RHTP grant periods).

The brief summarizes real-world revenue and cost impacts from Healthy Interactions programs (Reason to Believe).

Documented Results

55 %
Reduction in hospitalizations (48-month analysis)
95 NPS

Reported by OptumCare (Diabetes)

Claims-based
Cost savings across Diabetes, CHF, Falls
Quality
Improvements tied to adherence & outcomes
Reduction in Hospitalization

-55%

Cost Savings in Diabetes

-30%

Cost Savings in CHF

-46%

Reduction in Fall-Risk

-34%

RHT Program Overview:

Transforming the future of rural healthcare

Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program is a major federal initiative designed to strengthen and modernize healthcare in rural communities across the United States. Authorized under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Section 71401 of Public Law 119‑21), the program provides $50 billion over five fiscal years (2026–2030) to help states fundamentally reshape their rural health systems. This program aims to transform the rural healthcare ecosystem through system-wide, innovative change, ensuring rural communities have sustainable access to high-quality, dependable care for future generations. The RHT Program advances five key strategic goals:

  • Make Rural America Healthy Again – expand preventive health services and tackle root causes of chronic disease.
  • Sustainable Access – offer help rural providers offer long-term, financially sustainable care access and promote care coordination and resource sharing among rural facilities.
  • Workforce Development – strengthen recruitment and retention of rural health providers and support broader healthcare roles (e.g., community health workers, pharmacists, care navigators). 
  • Innovative Care – support new care delivery models to improve outcomes and lower costs.
  • Technology Innovation – expand access to digital health tools, remote care, and data-sharing capabilities.

RHTPS Offerings from Healthy Interactions:

Solutions for Rural Health Transformation

Certified Primary Care Educators

  • Train and deploy clinical staff as patient educators

  • Reduce provider burden

  • Shift chronic care patient education to certified educator staff 

Practice Education and Facilitation

  • Deploy practice facilitators as on-site change agents

  • Support workflow design/ optimization and implementation 

Training Program Accreditation

  • Train workforce programs to deliver standardized educator curriculum

  • Help obtain national accreditation 

Cardiometabolic Patient Education Tools

  • Create culturally relevant patient education

  • Deliver engaging learning through Conversation Map ® sessions 

Workforce Expansion

  • Train pharmacists/staff and community health workers to deliver patient education

  • Integrate CHW workflows into rural practices 

 

Youth Health Literacy

  • Increase health literacy among high school students in rural areas

  • Integrate nutrition, wellness, chronic disease basics, and future health careers 

 

The Challenge:

Better outcomes aren't enough—programs must pay for themselves.

Payers are under pressure to improve cardiometabolic outcomes at scale while managing total cost of care. The path forward requires programs that deliver measurable clinical value and demonstrate economic self-sufficiency—especially beyond time-limited funding such as RHTP grant periods.

The impact of our diabetes program has been... 

50M+

Fifty million people with diabetes across 129 countries have been educated through experiential diabetes map programs.

The program materials were developed in partnership with country and regional diabetes associations. 

60+

Over sixty independent clinical studies studying the impact of the experiential programs, showing significant improvements in:

  • Glucose and cardiovascular biomarkers
  • Patient self-care including medication adherence and wellness visits
  • Health outcomes including reductions in emergency room visits
95 NPS

Net Promoter Score is a metric used to measure customer satisfaction.

Patients who completed the diabetes experiential program also completed a satisfaction survey, and the program's NPS was 95.

NPS scores above 80 are considered “world-class” in terms of satisfaction.

What we do:

Healthcare Professional Programs

Obesity is such a pervasive, growing and costly healthcare challenge. Despite its impact, obesity is not a disease topic well covered in traditional medical school curricula. Furthermore, obesity in the US was only classified as a disease in 2012 and, in many countries, it is still viewed as a lifestyle condition versus the reality that obesity is a chronic condition. 

To address the challenges of obesity, Healthy Interactions is developing targeted education programs specifically for healthcare professionals. The initial topics for healthcare professional programs include:

Weight Bias Implications

HCPs learn that obesity is a disease and about the impact of weight stigma on the quality of care they provide.

Clinical Guidelines

HCPs learn about the standards of care for obesity and how to incorporate these standards into their practices to achieve better patient outcomes.

“

Healthy Interactions' stigma program helped both myself and my staff understand what weight bias is and the overall impact it has on our patients.  It improved our ability to help our patients with obesity.”

 Healthcare Provider 

Join the movement:

Healthy Interactions Primary Care Alliance

Via our Primary Care Alliance, primary care clinics will be introduced to new educational tools, techniques, and workflows that accelerate the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based chronic disease and prevention strategies and advance primary care delivery across thousands of primary care practices.

“

DARTNet is excited to be collaborating with Healthy Interactions to aggressively support primary care clinicians and practices in helping the majority of the US population at considerable risk for cardiometabolic complications. With new approaches to support behavioral change as well as medical therapy for risk factors such as obesity, primary care clinicians are asking for training and supportive systems for which Healthy Interactions and DARTNet can provide education and implementation support.

 Dr. Wilson Pace,
Chief Medical and Technology Officer

How Healthy Interactions Drives Sustainable Economics:

Sustainability comes from two levers

Revenue Uplift

Reimbursable cardiometabolic education

Support education models where reimbursement codes exist for cardiometabolic patient education—including high-leverage group education.

Higher adherence to reimbursable care plans

Programs improve care plan compliance—supporting better outcomes and increasing reimbursable activity tied to adherence.

Improved quality metrics

Quality ratings influence reimbursement. Programs connect to quality drivers including patient satisfaction, outcomes, and adherence.

Cost Reduction

Reduced hospitalizations & readmissions

A 48-month longitudinal analysis reports a 55% reduction in hospitalizations among patients completing Conversation Map ®.

Reduced use of healthcare resources

Fewer routine and acute visits, improved self-efficacy—reducing unnecessary resource use under fee-for-service and value-based arrangements.

Condition-specific cost savings

Real-world commercial data shows cost reductions across conditions—fewer ED visits, fewer inpatient stays, reduced complications, lower medication waste.

Evidence Highlights:

Proven impact across what matters most

Patient Experience

Patients rate these programs exceptionally high, including OptumCare-reported Net Promoter Score (NPS) results (Diabetes NPS 95; lowest program cited 73).

Outcomes

Evidence of improved diabetes outcomes, including progress toward HbA1c targets (<7) across Medicare and commercial cohorts.

Adherence That Translates Into Value

Diabetes retinopathy screening adherence improves from below 10% to over 80%, with relevant reimbursement codes noted in the brief.

Utilization + Cost

Cost reduction categories including the 55% hospitalization reduction and claims-based savings across multiple chronic conditions.

What's Inside the Brief:

What you'll get when you download the Sustainability RTB

  • A clear framework for economic self-sufficiency: revenue enhancement + cost reduction → sustainable programs post-grant.

  • The three revenue drivers (education reimbursement, adherence-linked reimbursement, quality metric lift).

  • The three cost reduction drivers (hospitalizations/readmissions, resource use, condition-specific savings).

  • A concise explanation of Conversation Maps ® and the learning model that supports sustained behavior change.

Download the Economic Sustainability RTB Brief

Get the evidence summary showing how Healthy Interactions programs can improve program economics—supporting sustainability through reimbursable education, quality drivers, improved adherence, and reduced utilization.

The brief summarizes real-world revenue and cost impacts from Healthy Interactions programs (Reason to Believe).

How Our Obesity Education Programs are Experienced

We offer 3 distinct modalities for delivering our experiential education programs:

picture1_002

In-person Conversation Map®

In this format, participants meet face-to-face in small groups composed of individuals with similar health conditions. Each session is facilitated by a licensed HCP and uses a Conversation Map®, a visual metaphor-driven tool-to break down complex concepts and guide participants through a Socratic dialogue. This structured approach helps shape each participant's learning pathway. 

  • Facilitated by a Healthy Interactions trained Healthcare Provider
  • Small group patients & caregivers
  • Socratic learning principles
  • Metaphoric visual learning
  • Insightful data & infographics
  • Concludes with a personal action plan

picture2_002

Virtual Group Conversation Maps®

Virtual sessions replicate the in-person Conversation Map® experience without requiring participants to gather in a single location. Conducted in real time and facilitated by a licensed HCP, these sessions maintain the interactive, conversation-based format and ensure a dynamic, patient-centered learning environment—even at a distance.

  • Synchronous / real-time
  • Facilitated by a Healthy Interactions trained Healthcare Provider
  • Small group of patients & caregivers
  • Socratic learning principles
  • Metaphoric visual learning
  • Insightful data & infographics
  • Concludes with a personal action plan
picture3_002

Self-directed Conversation Maps®

Self-directed virtual sessions empower participants to engage with the obesity learning content at their own pace and convenience. These tools incorporate the same visual imagery and structured learning paths as the in-person and facilitated virtual platforms, allowing learners to independently navigate the material and gain valuable insights into managing their health.

  • Socratic learning principles
  • Metaphoric visual learning
  • Insightful data & infographics
  • Concludes with a personal action plan

How we do it:

The Healthy Interactions Methodology

  • Socratic learning principles
  • Metaphoric visual imagery alongside powerful data
  • Small group learning environment
  • Facilitated by a trained, licensed Healthcare Professional
  • Language and cultural accuracy

Healthcare Professional

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Patient

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About Us

HealthyIQ was founded by the same leadership team that established Healthy Interactions. Prior to its acquisition in 2021, Healthy Interactions evolved into the largest, most validated, and most influential diabetes education platform. Its diabetes education programs were implemented in 129 countries and supported by more than 60 independent clinical studies conducted across 14 countries. Overall, these initiatives improved outcomes for over 50 million individuals living with diabetes. 

Leadership Team

Chip Amrein

Joachim Becker

Paul Lasiuk

Andrew Leong-Fern

Joseph Pepek M.D.

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PDF Document

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Infographic

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Case study

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does this help payers specifically?

The brief outlines a payer-relevant economics model: revenue enhancement (reimbursement + quality performance) paired with cost reduction (utilization and condition-specific savings).

Is this only for rural transformation initiatives?

The brief is written in the context of RHTP and sustainability beyond grant periods, but the drivers described (reimbursement, quality, adherence, utilization) apply broadly.

What conditions do you support?

Programs span cardiometabolic conditions (e.g., obesity, CKD, MASH, heart failure, diabetes) and additional areas such as COPD, asthma, tobacco cessation, nutrition, falls prevention, and more.