Cigna Taps Aeroflow Health for Virtual Nutrition Services
Aeroflow Health, a health tech company, has teamed up with Cigna to provide virtual nutrition services to its members nationally, the company announced on Tuesday.
Asheville, North Carolina-based Aeroflow Health was founded in 2001 and offers an array of medical devices covered by insurance. The company has four lines: Aeroflow Breastpumps, Aeroflow Diabetes, Aeroflow Sleep and Aeroflow Urology. In addition to medical devices, it provides education and consultations. The company has partnerships with more than 1,000 insurance plans.
Through the partnership with Cigna, Aeroflow Health will serve Cigna members who would “most benefit from nutrition interventions,” such as new mothers, those with diabetes or those with a chronic disease, according to the announcement. These patients will have access to registered dietitians, who can create personalized meal plans and provide tips to support their goals, such as boosting breast milk production, losing weight, reducing cholesterol or lowering the risk of heart disease.
“Nutrition services are not a newly covered benefit, but they are a deeply necessary one. Historically, they have been underutilized or disconnected from the care journey,” said Amanda Minimi, vice president of health solutions marketing and operations at Aeroflow Health, in an email. “With such a strong investment in telehealth infrastructure, we believe we can now better support individuals in accessing and engaging with these services in a way that is convenient, personal, and sustainable. This partnership allows us to bring that vision to life on a broader scale.”
Cigna members using Aeroflow’s nutrition services can also access additional medical equipment for their condition, covered by their insurance. This includes continuous glucose monitors, blood pressure monitors and CPAP machines.
In addition, Aeroflow is working with Cigna’s clinical, quality and member engagement teams to improve patient care, Minimi said.
“This includes integrating with care management workflows, leveraging population health insights, and capturing outcome data to monitor progress and drive improvement,” Minimi stated. “The structure of this partnership is designed to be both high-touch and highly scalable, with the ultimate goal of delivering measurable value to the member, the plan, and the broader healthcare system.”
Minimi added that the company will track the success of this partnership through both quantitative and qualitative metrics. This includes enrollment rates, program participation, engagement in follow-up services and member-reported outcomes. Aeroflow will also track emergency room visits, hospital readmissions and indicators of disease progression. In addition, it’s using digital tools to monitor blood pressure and A1c levels.
“Importantly, we will continue gathering feedback from both patients and care teams to ensure the program remains responsive, effective, and grounded in real-life needs,” Minimi said. “Our goal is to create a feedback loop that drives continuous improvement while demonstrating clear value to members and health plan stakeholders alike.”
Other companies that provide nutrition services include Culina Health, Season Health and NourishedRx.
Photo: vgajic, Getty Images
