Each week we spotlight one of our DigitalHealth.London businesses, founders or NHS fellows. Today we’re excited to introduce Fruit Street, our current accelerator company DigitalHealth.London.
What is the problem you are trying to solve and why is it important?
Prediabetes affects one in three adults and presents a significant risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In the UK, type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 90% of all diabetes casesleading to increased healthcare costs and potential health complications (i.e. heart disease, stroke, amputation, blindness and dialysis).
What is the solution you have developed and how can it help solve the problem?
Fruit Street offers a comprehensive diabetes prevention program through telehealth and live interactive group video sessions via Zoom, led by registered dietitians. The 12-month program includes 22 sessions in which a dietitian meets with a group of 30 patients for an hour, covering topics such as nutrition, physical activity, sleep hygiene and stress management. Additionally, participants receive a wireless scale, a Fitbit device and access to a mobile app allowing them to photograph their meals to get personalized feedback from their dietitian. Fruit Street’s goal is to help people with prediabetes lose 5% of weight, thereby reducing their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
What is the history of your company?
Born in the United States in 2014, Fruit Street initially focused on licensing telemedicine software. In 2017, we made a strategic pivot by offering the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Diabetes Prevention Program to prominent employers and self-insured health plans, including Walgreens, Delta Airlines and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS).
What successes have you had so far through successful pilots/trials/contracts?
Over the years, we have successfully recruited more than 45,000 people with prediabetes and trained more than 150 registered dietitians to effectively administer the program.
What are your future goals? What does success look like?
We are actively exploring avenues for growth in the UK market and discussing plans for our inaugural pilot program with an Integrated Care System (ICS). With the recruitment of a dedicated dietitian and adaptation of the program to align with UK needs, our next step is to gather real-world evidence to validate the effectiveness of our solution in the UK context.
We are also looking to collaborate with North West London and their ICS, as well as exploring possibilities with the DiscoverNow solution. Our overarching goal is to expand our telehealth-based diabetes prevention program to reach a significant number of prediabetic patients across the UK, with the ultimate goal of serving thousands of people in the population.
How has your time at the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator helped you achieve these goals?
We were introduced to several potential pilot partners and our dedicated NHS navigator, Lewis, advised us on adapting our program for the UK. Without the support of DigitalHealth.London, we would not have made connections with potential pilot sites and would not have understood the UK market.
Do you have any advice for future digital health companies?
You should always focus on evidence generation and healthcare reimbursement. The solution has to work and you have to figure out how to generate revenue so that your business model is sustainable. If you can create a solution that improves outcomes, reduces costs, and improves patient and clinician satisfaction, then you have something that might work well.
Any requests for the public?
We would love to be introduced to potential GPs who would be interested in doing a pilot with us in referring their prediabetic patients to our program.
Fruit Street is currently part of Cohort 7 of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme.
THE DigitalHealth.London Accelerator The program is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It is delivered by the Health Innovation Network (HIN) South London in partnership with the Office of Life Sciences, CW+, Medicity, NHS England, the Mayor of London and the Leveling Up Fund.
For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-
Shared Prosperity Fund prospectus.
