Wellinks Adds Douglas Wenners to Board of Directors

December 21, 2022
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NEW HAVEN, Conn., December 21, 2022 Wellinks, the leading digital healthcare company offering virtual Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) management for health plans and value-based care providers, today announced Douglas Wenners has joined its board of directors as an independent director. Wenners brings over 25 years of experience working with health plans, and he is a strong advocate for home-based care for people living with serious illnesses.

 

Prior to his current role, Wenners served as the CEO and co-founder of Prospero Health, a home-based medical care provider. Previously, he served as the CEO of Privia Health and significantly grew the company’s market presence by more than 25 percent. He also held various executive leadership positions at Anthem, where he designed the largest pay for value program in the country and redesigned the company’s public exchange business after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

“COPD is the third leading cause of death by chronic disease in the United States, but there’s a lot of potential to keep people healthy at home,” said Alex Waldron, Wellinks CEO. “Doug’s skills and experience will accelerate our ability to fulfill our mission of helping people with COPD live fully and breathe freely.”

 

“COPD is a uniquely challenging issue to manage, but Wellinks has fundamentally changed the ability to engage this population,” said Wenners. “I look forward to working with more payers and providers across the country to bring more value and improve outcomes for those with COPD.”

 

Wellinks’ Board of Directors is chaired by HighCape Capital’s Kevin Rakin, and also includes Morningside’s Stephen Bruso, Laniakea and OTV’s Henry Weinstein, and Wellinks’ CEO Alex Waldron.

 

About Wellinks

Wellinks is on a mission to help those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) live fully and breathe freely. COPD is the third leading cause of death by chronic disease in the U.S. and the fifth most costly chronic disease. With its personalized, virtual-first COPD management system, Wellinks breaks down barriers for patients, providing the evidence-based care they need and deserve outside the four walls of the clinic.Wellinks supports patients through virtual care, including pulmonary rehabilitation, health coaching, and monitoring aided by connected devices and an easy-to-use smartphone app. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Wellinks is led by a team of digital health veterans and backed by top investment firms including Morningside, HighCape Capital, Connecticut Innovations, and Benslie. For more information, visit www.wellinks.com and follow on Twitter (@WellinksHealth) and LinkedIn.

NEW HAVEN, Conn., December 21, 2022 Wellinks, the leading digital healthcare company offering virtual Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) management for health plans and value-based care providers, today announced Douglas Wenners has joined its board of directors as an independent director. Wenners brings over 25 years of experience working with health plans, and he is a strong advocate for home-based care for people living with serious illnesses.

 

Prior to his current role, Wenners served as the CEO and co-founder of Prospero Health, a home-based medical care provider. Previously, he served as the CEO of Privia Health and significantly grew the company’s market presence by more than 25 percent. He also held various executive leadership positions at Anthem, where he designed the largest pay for value program in the country and redesigned the company’s public exchange business after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

“COPD is the third leading cause of death by chronic disease in the United States, but there’s a lot of potential to keep people healthy at home,” said Alex Waldron, Wellinks CEO. “Doug’s skills and experience will accelerate our ability to fulfill our mission of helping people with COPD live fully and breathe freely.”

 

“COPD is a uniquely challenging issue to manage, but Wellinks has fundamentally changed the ability to engage this population,” said Wenners. “I look forward to working with more payers and providers across the country to bring more value and improve outcomes for those with COPD.”

 

Wellinks’ Board of Directors is chaired by HighCape Capital’s Kevin Rakin, and also includes Morningside’s Stephen Bruso, Laniakea and OTV’s Henry Weinstein, and Wellinks’ CEO Alex Waldron.

 

About Wellinks

Wellinks is on a mission to help those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) live fully and breathe freely. COPD is the third leading cause of death by chronic disease in the U.S. and the fifth most costly chronic disease. With its personalized, virtual-first COPD management system, Wellinks breaks down barriers for patients, providing the evidence-based care they need and deserve outside the four walls of the clinic.Wellinks supports patients through virtual care, including pulmonary rehabilitation, health coaching, and monitoring aided by connected devices and an easy-to-use smartphone app. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Wellinks is led by a team of digital health veterans and backed by top investment firms including Morningside, HighCape Capital, Connecticut Innovations, and Benslie. For more information, visit www.wellinks.com and follow on Twitter (@WellinksHealth) and LinkedIn.

Driving Better Outcomes
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Wellinks is excited to announce the final results of ASPIRE – a clinical trial conducted with the COPD Foundation to assess the impact of Wellinks on quality of life, engagement and satisfaction among COPDF members living with COPD.

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Each participant received personalized health coaching, virtual pulmonary rehabilitation, and monitoring through connected devices and a patient-facing app.

The study enrolled 141 members in the trial, with 119 completing the 24-week study. These results demonstrate sustained engagement, satisfaction, and clinical response with Wellinks.

Interested in learning more about Wellinks?

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Wellinks Engagement at 24 Weeks
(n = 141)

61%
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Enrollment Rate

Proportion successfully enrolled out of all who were interested and eligible

84%
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Retention Rate

Proportion who remained enrolled in the study at 24 weeks

These results were demonstrated in a population with...

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High Member Satisfaction at 24 Weeks

  • Over 81% said Wellinks helped them better manage their COPD
  • Over 92% found Wellinks to be valuable
  • Over 83% said Wellinks helped them learn more about their COPD
+64
Net Promoter Score*
* Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty and satisfaction measurement taken from asking customers how likely they are to recommend your product. NPS scores range from -100 to +100. This NPS is based on responses from those who continued contact with coaches, representative of the Wellinks clinical model.

Improved Clinical Outcomes at 24 Weeks

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Wellinks demonstrated sustained improvements in COPD self-efficacy as measured by the COPD Self-efficacy Scale (CSES) at 24 weeks.
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Self-efficacy is a measure of how confident an individual is in managing their COPD and addressing shortness of breath.
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One-third of participants demonstrated improvements in Modified Medical Research Council dyspnea score. mMRC is a measure of breathlessness that is associated with risk of future exacerbations.

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