# Putting Telehealth to the Test: An Evaluation of the Use of Telehealth to Increase the Population-Level Impact of an Employer-Based Diabetes Prevention Program

> **NIH NIH R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $386,877

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
More than 60 employers and insurers now offer the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) as an evidence-based weight management program for
employees. Health Plus, the workplace wellness division of Vanderbilt Health and Wellness, began offering the
DPP in 2014 as a benefit to the approximately 25,000 employees of Vanderbilt University (VU) and Vanderbilt
University Medical Center (VUMC). The goal of the DPP is for participants to lose 5% of their baseline weight
by the end of the year-long program. From 2014-2017, the proportion of Health Plus DPP (HP-DPP)
participants achieving this goal exceeded National DPP metrics (43.6% of HP-DPP participants versus 35.5%
of DPP participants nationwide) and the program earned full recognition status from the CDC Diabetes
Prevention Recognition Program. Yet comparisons of potential and actual participation in the HP-DPP suggest
many employees likely to benefit from this highly effective program are not participating in it. Program reach is
often limited for both worksite wellness programs and DPPs because of inconvenient locations, time
limitations, insufficient incentives, and confidentiality concerns. Feedback collected from HP-DPP participants
from 2014-2017 suggests the need to meet in person on the VU/VUMC main campus to participate in the
program was a key barrier to its reach during this interval. However, the group structure of the program was
noted to be a key source of support and motivation. To improve the reach of the highly effective HP-DPP while
maintaining the benefits of its group structure, the HP-DPP introduced a video-teleconference (VTC) group
(telehealth) participation option in 2018. Although the CDC endorses the use of telehealth as a DPP
implementation strategy, few studies have compared the effectiveness of telehealth and in-person delivery
platforms for achieving weight loss. No studies have compared weight loss outcomes for VTC and in-person
DPP groups in which the VTC group participates solely via online interactions. The Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) recently decided not to reimburse DPPs utilizing a telehealth platform for program
delivery without further testing and evaluation of virtual DPPs. Thus, the need for research to guide the use of
telehealth as a DPP implementation strategy is relevant at both a local and national level. This project will
evaluate the HP-DPP in terms of the reach, effectiveness, and implementation dimensions of the RE-AIM
model by (1) comparing the reach, effectiveness, and implementation of the HP-DPP before versus after the
introduction of the VTC participation option, (2) comparing the effectiveness and implementation of VTC versus
in-person HP-DPP groups in the “after” period, and (3) exploring reasons for differences in the reach,
effectiveness, and/or implementation of the HP-DPP that are associated with inclusion of the VTC participation
option using in-dept...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10456167
- **Project number:** 5R01DK120814-05
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Rosette J Chakkalakal
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $386,877
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-05-12 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10456167

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10456167, Putting Telehealth to the Test: An Evaluation of the Use of Telehealth to Increase the Population-Level Impact of an Employer-Based Diabetes Prevention Program (5R01DK120814-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10456167. Licensed CC0.

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