---
type: source
title: "Digital Engagement Improves GLP-1 Persistence to 67% at 12 Months vs. 47-49% Baseline (JMIR 2025 + Omada Health)"
author: "Journal of Medical Internet Research / Omada Health"
url: https://www.jmir.org/2025/1/e69466
date: 2025-01-01
domain: health
secondary_domains: []
format: peer-reviewed study
status: processed
processed_by: vida
processed_date: 2026-04-27
priority: high
tags: [glp-1, digital-health, adherence, behavioral-support, coaching, obesity, persistence, atoms-to-bits, value-based]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

Two converging findings on digital/behavioral support and GLP-1 adherence:

**JMIR 2025 (e69466):** Impact of digital engagement on weight loss outcomes in GLP-1 therapy:
- Engagement with a digital weight management platform significantly enhances weight loss outcomes among individuals using GLP-1 receptor agonists
- Combination of pharmacotherapy and digital behavioral support is a "promising strategy for obesity management"

**Omada Health Enhanced GLP-1 Care Track (real-world data 2025):**
- 67% of Enhanced Care Track members were persistent on GLP-1 medication at 12 months
- Baseline real-world evidence: 47-49% persistence at 12 months (without digital support)
- **+20 percentage points adherence improvement** from integrated digital behavioral program
- Weight loss outcomes: 18.4% average weight loss with digital support vs. 11.9% in standard real-world evidence
- The combination achieves clinical-trial-level outcomes (18.4% matching Ozempic trial results) at half the typical drug dose in some protocols

**Supporting evidence — human-AI hybrid coaching:**
- ~65,000-user dataset: hybrid human-AI coaching produced 74% more weight loss than AI-only coaching over 3 months
- The human-coaching layer, not just AI, drives the marginal adherence improvement

**Danish cohort (online + individualized semaglutide dosing):**
- 16.7% weight loss at 64 weeks — matching clinical trial outcomes using HALF the typical drug dose
- The dose-reduction mechanism: better titration management through digital monitoring → fewer side effects → better adherence

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** This is the empirical test of Belief 4 (atoms-to-bits) playing out in real time. Semaglutide is commoditizing to $15-99/month internationally. The drug itself is becoming atoms (physical input). The VALUE that separates outcomes is the digital behavioral support layer (bits): 67% vs. 47% persistence, 18.4% vs. 11.9% weight loss. The company that owns behavioral support for GLP-1 patients owns the value layer. This is exactly what Belief 4 predicts: when atoms commoditize, bits capture the defensible margin.

**What surprised me:** The DOSE REDUCTION finding. A digital program enabling half the typical dose while achieving equivalent outcomes has profound pharmacoeconomics: at $99/month for compounded semaglutide, half the dose = $50/month effective cost. This makes digital support programs potentially cost-neutral through drug cost reduction alone, making the ROI case for employer/payer coverage easy.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Direct data on WHICH digital interventions matter most — is it the behavioral coaching, the monitoring, or the human accountability component? The 74% advantage of human-AI hybrid over AI-alone suggests the human layer is critical, but the mechanism isn't isolated.

**KB connections:**
- DIRECTLY supports Belief 4 (atoms-to-bits): digital behavioral support = the bits layer that becomes more valuable as the drug (atoms) commoditizes
- Enriches the GLP-1 adherence/discontinuation picture: the 47%→67% adherence gap shows the structural intervention opportunity
- Connects to the existing claim about consumer willingness to pay for enhanced services (cash-pay bypass of payer gatekeeping)
- Creates a cross-domain tension with the DTx business model failure claim: if DTx failed but GLP-1 adherence programs are succeeding, what's different? Answer: GLP-1 programs work ALONGSIDE a pharmacological intervention; standalone behavioral DTx doesn't have the drug anchor

**Extraction hints:**
- Potential new claim: "GLP-1 digital behavioral support programs improve 12-month persistence by 20 percentage points (67% vs. 47%) and reduce effective drug dose, making them cost-neutral to payers through drug cost savings alone"
- This claim tests directly against the DTx failure pattern — WHY does this work when standalone DTx fails? The pharmacological anchor is the differentiator
- Enrich Belief 4's grounding: atoms-to-bits value capture is now empirically demonstrated in the GLP-1 adherence market

**Context:** Omada Health is a digital chronic disease management company currently offering a GLP-1 care track. This data comes from their proprietary platform. The 67% figure is Omada's own data, not independent verification — important caveat for confidence calibration. JMIR paper is peer-reviewed but published data may reflect favorable Omada trial conditions.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: Belief 4 (atoms-to-bits thesis) — digital support layer capturing value as drug commoditizes
WHY ARCHIVED: This is the strongest empirical evidence to date that the "bits" layer matters in GLP-1 care. 20 percentage point adherence improvement is clinically and economically significant.
EXTRACTION HINT: Extract as a new claim about digital behavioral support improving GLP-1 adherence — but flag the commercial data caveat (Omada's own results). The JMIR peer-reviewed paper provides independent corroboration of the directional finding. The extractable claim is about the adherence mechanism, not just the commercial result.
