Why medication alone isn’t enough: A clinician’s view on sustainable obesity care

^{By Dr. Richard Frank, Chief Medical Officer at Vida Health} 

Following a recent webinar hosted by Amwell and Vida Health, Dr. Richard Frank, chief medical officer at Vida, took a deep dive into the complex challenges of obesity care – including the rising use of costly GLP-1 medications. He also introduced an innovative, integrated approach to managing obesity and related chronic conditions. In this post, you'll discover how Vida's evidence-based program, delivered through the Amwell platform, transforms outcomes – and what it could mean for your organization.

Obesity is one of the most complex and costly chronic conditions we face today. As a physician and chief medical officer, I’ve seen firsthand how often the healthcare system approaches cardiometabolic health with a fragmented framework, offering quick fixes in place of comprehensive, sustained care. This is particularly evident in the surge of GLP-1 prescriptions. 

These medications represent a powerful clinical advancement. Yet, their full potential is untapped without the right infrastructure to support their appropriate use and a strategy for long-term behavior change, medical oversight, and coordinated care. For many, the result is a cycle of temporary progress followed by regression, posing a financial risk to health plans and a clinical risk to patients. That’s why, when we discuss the future of obesity care, it’s crucial that we don’t confuse medication with a cure. 

The GLP-1 explosion — and its limitations 

In 2023 alone, the number of Americans prescribed GLP-1s skyrocketed — a 40-fold increase over five years, according to a study at Cambridge University. For some, these medications have been life-changing. But for others, they’ve led to inflated expectations, rising costs, and outcomes that don’t stick. 

We’ve all heard of patients who start a GLP-1 medication expecting dramatic, permanent results, without making any lifestyle changes. Often, the weight initially comes off, but then plateaus or returns once the medication is stopped or the individual disengages from care.  

That’s not a failure of the medication. It’s a failure of the care model around it.  

Without providing the right clinical structure, inflated expectations, rising pharmacy spending, and unsustainable outcomes become the norm. For health plans, the challenge is clear: responsibly managing access, ensuring clinical appropriateness, and prioritizing the support of members beyond the prescription pad. 

Behavior change is the missing ingredient 

Obesity is not simply a condition of excess weight. It’s a chronic, relapsing disease with deep roots in behavior, biology, mental health, and genetics. At Vida, our care model is built on this understanding.  

We don’t see GLP-1s as a silver bullet but as one tool in a larger, clinically governed strategy. 33 percent of Vida members achieve meaningful, sustained weight loss through behavior change alone, proving that many individuals can reach their goals without medication. 

For those who do require GLP-1s or other anti-obesity medications, we provide the structure needed for long-term success — this is the foundation of Vida and Amwell’s integrated care solution.

Imagine a member journey where the prescribing physician, behavioral health coach, and registered dietitian work as an integrated care team — collaborating in real-time to ensure the right patient receives the right treatment at the right time. Every care plan is personalized, clinically governed, and behaviorally reinforced from start to finish.

Smarter prescribing through clinical protocols

Some of the most important differentiators in our model are how we work with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and health plans to manage GLP-1 utilization responsibly, deliver meaningful clinical improvements, expand access for the right patients, and control long-term costs through integrated, whole-person care.

We recognize that prescribing medications is only part of the solution and strive to provide cost-effective cardiometabolic care. Through this approach, we’re able to:

This is what responsible prescribing looks like: not just access, but accountability.

A care team that works in concert 

Effective cardiometabolic care requires a care team that’s more than a collection of siloed providers. Our multidisciplinary team is structured to deliver whole-person support, and each member plays an important and defined role. This includes physicians, registered dietitians, health coaches, and more. 

Crucially, we don’t just work within Vida’s walls. We also loop in the member’s primary care provider — whether that’s through Amwell Medical Group or another physician. By sharing clinical insights and aligning treatment plans, we create a seamless continuum of care that keeps members connected, informed, and clinically supported. 

Integration is the real innovation 

Technology plays a critical role here. Through our integration on the Amwell platform, we’re able to connect every touchpoint in the member’s journey. Amwell Virtual Primary Care providers can enroll members directly into the Vida cardiometabolic program, or members can self-enroll. Clinical data from the Vida app — like weight, glucose, blood pressure, and engagement levels — flows into the broader care record so the Amwell provider can support the member’s whole-person healthcare. And the member can continue to access digital solutions for their other healthcare needs in the same place they're familiar with — Amwell.   

This creates a single access point for continuous care, not fragmented. It also makes life easier for health plans that benefit from consolidated contracting, compliance, and reporting. 

The results speak for themselves 

Across Vida’s book of business 2025, we’re seeing real, sustained outcomes: 

We’ve also seen that engaged members are more likely to re-engage with primary care, creating positive feedback loops in their health journeys. In a landscape where drop-off is the norm, that kind of continuity is powerful. 

Together, Vida and Amwell represent the new standard in obesity care: a single pathway that bridges virtual medical practice, digital care, and ongoing lifestyle support. This model doesn’t just fill treatment gaps — it brings us closer to closing them by embedding behavior change into every phase of care. 

As the pressure to manage obesity intensifies, smarter care isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s a strategic imperative.