The Buena Vida Podcast

Sean Duffy: Omada for Diabetes & Healthcare in your pocket

• Lacy Wolff • Season 4 • Episode 9

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Sean Duffy, co-founder and CEO of Omada Health, shares how his company is supporting diabetes care by providing continuous support between doctor visits through digital health technology. His journey from medical school to creating a healthcare solution that puts a "care team in your pocket" demonstrates how technology can help bridge critical gaps in traditional healthcare delivery.

Key topics discussed: 

• Founding of Omada and Omada for Diabetes
• 15% of ERS population lives with diabetes, higher than the national average
• User experience: monitoring devices, a dedicated care team, and AI-powered tools at no out-of-pocket cost
• Program focuses on sustainable 5% incremental changes rather than dramatic lifestyle overhauls
• AI technology helps users easily track meals and understand their personal glucose responses
• Human element remains central with consistent coaches who provide accountability and personalized support
• Walking after meals and other small behavioral changes can significantly impact glucose management
• Future innovations will continue blending AI capabilities with human compassion and expertise

To register for Omada for Diabetes, check out the HealthSelect Omada for Diabetes Webpage. Contact Sean directly with feedback at sean@omadahealth.com.


Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Unfortunately, based on the way that the existing healthcare system is designed, we're just shackled with this visit-by-visit model and everything is built around it the regulations, the reimbursement, the payment models, I mean you name it and it was obvious that that type of care did not meet the need in diabetes and what people suffering with diabetes needed, and we've got 156 million Americans that suffer from chronic disease right now. And so that led myself and my co-founder just to an enormous amount of conviction that we had to swing as big as possible to build a different type of care model. And we're privileged that, though the existing system is not suited to care for diabetes, that there's wonderful organizations like ERS that recognize that and support solutions like Omada to really fill those gaps.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Buena Vida podcast, where we talk about living well, living a good life, making good choices. Today, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce you to Sean Duffy, who is the co-founder and CEO of Omada Health. He started a company that has really taken off in the digital healthcare space, and the reason why I'm talking to him is because September 1st we are rolling out Omada for Diabetes to our HealthSelect and Consumer Directed HealthSelect plan participants that qualify who have type two or type one diabetes in our population. This is an amazing program that really provides you I like how Sean says a healthcare team in your pocket.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

15% of our ERS population are living with diabetes and that's not just a number. These are people's lives stories and I think there's a real opportunity for impact and helping to improve health and health behavior in our members' lives. Even if you don't have diabetes, you know someone that does, and every single one of us has a higher likelihood. Just living in the United States, with our nutrition challenges, our environment, all the things that we deal with, we're more likely to have diabetes in our lifetime. So Sean will take us behind the curtain from the spark of the idea of Omada to a polished solution that helps really shape health behavior. He's going to break down the journey, the mindset, how the digital experience works and how it nudges people toward healthier habits over time.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

I'm so proud that ERS is offering this benefit. We know that improving health behavior isn't just good in practice, it is good for our workforce, it is good for our happiness, just for improving people's lives. So buckle up. This is your front row seat for the future of diabetes care. I do want to mention that there's a few sound glitches in this episode. We record over Zoom, as people are joining me on this podcast from across the country, so there's a couple of sound glitches, but bear with me because it is worth a listen.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

All right here we go.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Good morning, Sean, and thank you so much for being a guest on the Buena Vida podcast. It's so great to sit down and have a conversation with you today.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Good morning, lacey, and thank you so much for having me excited for it.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Yeah, we are just thrilled that we are going to be launching. I know we've been kind of in a soft launch phase with Omada for Diabetes for our participants for a while and we are officially launching September 1, where we're going to be promoting your solution to our members with diabetes. And so I'd love just to get you to start with sharing your story. How was Omada born, you know, how did you get here and what led you to the founding of it?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Yeah, absolutely. And I mean for starters just to just just feel like absolutely honored that we're in the position to be able to help support the ERS with diabetes. And you know, hopefully, if you're listening to this podcast, on the back of it you're more excited versus less to you know, to take a peek at what we offer and see if we might be able to help. So I guess, quick on me. I founded Omada Health. Well, in medical school. So I grew up in Colorado.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

I was always somewhat of a tech geek at heart, played with computers in high school, sat more at the table that was playing chess over lunch.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

I was always a tech geek and when I graduated I had done my pre-med recs in undergrad but was just drawn to what was happening in Silicon Valley.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

And so I worked in technology at Google for a little bit and realized, you know what, maybe the world's weren't so black and white, and applied and went in medical school, ended up deciding that, you know what, maybe there is a chance to blend both. And so, on a summer internship, really on the back of just a lot of conversations with my tech friends, I recognized that there needed to be a different sort of company in digital health, and one that provided just amazing technology and service experiences in disease areas where we found that people are not well supported but technology could help, and that led to the Genesis Firmata. So we out there in the world describe ourselves as a between visit healthcare provider, because our goal is to put a care team in everybody's pocket, so you feel that you've got someone in your corner that's rooting for you. With a limited time, it's just like their number one. Accountability is your success, and so that led to the business.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

That's amazing. Several years ago, I worked for the army and I did wellness coaching. It ran a clinic and people would come see me every 30 days for follow-up visits and what I realized was like it's just not often enough. People really do need more day-by-day support and I love how you said that having it in your pocket it's just a wonderful really use of our technology. So let's start with the why. Diabetes and prediabetes and other chronic conditions are impacting millions of Americans. We hear about it, we see it, we feel it every single day, and 15% of our ERS population is diagnosed with diabetes, which is higher than the national average. From your perspective, how big is this problem and how does OMADA aim to solve for it?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Oh for sure. I mean, it's an enormous challenge for the country and it's one, if you kind of observe, the existing way that care is delivered meets a very tough external environment. Relative to food, and I mean you name it you'd probably guess that this would happen, the truth be told. And so in the early days we sat in people's homes with diabetes before writing any code, and I just felt this obvious gap. And all these individuals, they had a primary care doc, but what their doc was able to say is like look, you need to take your medicine, check your surgeries, eat differently, lose weight, exercise more. And there was no support, there was judgment.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Unfortunately, there was a lot of well, just come back in six months and maybe you'd get a pamphlet, and that's actually the opposite of what you'd need to support someone with their diabetes goals. So, relative to the why, it became very obvious that, unfortunately, based on the way that the existing healthcare system is designed, we're just shackled with this visit by a visit model and everything is built around it the regulations, the reimbursement, the payment models, I mean you name it and it was obvious that that type of care did not meet the need in diabetes and what people suffering with diabetes needed, and we've got 156 million Americans that suffer from chronic disease right now, and so that led myself and my co-founder just to an enormous amount of conviction that we had to swing as big as possible to build a different type of care model, and we're privileged that, though the existing system is not suited to care for diabetes, that there's wonderful organizations like ERS that recognize that and support solutions like Omada to really fill those gaps.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Absolutely. It makes so much sense because, like you said, everybody's dealing with the challenges of the food, environment, the sedentary jobs that we have as I'm sitting in my desk having this conversation with you. So having that support, having that between visit care, like you said, I think it just makes so much sense. For someone who's never heard of Omada before, doesn't really know what we're talking about, what we're launching, can you kind of paint a picture of what the experience is for a user that has diabetes and maybe wants to enroll in this program?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Yeah, absolutely. I think this is a good reminder that there's no associated out-of-pocket cost with Omada. So if you're out there and you're listening and you have diabetes, I absolutely encourage you to just put your toe in the water and hopefully you love what you find and if not, tell us why. We'll work to change it. But the way that it works is it starts with getting you a set of devices to help you support the monitoring of your key biometrics. So scale, you know glucometer, you know the critical things that would help support you, with your care team being able to look at where you're at from a glucose standpoint. Then you meet your care team. Your care team would consist of a health coach that's all certified and you know and trained to support, really being in your corner, you know learning about you're, listening to your goals not ours and seeing if we can help you accomplish them, as well as a certified care and diabetes education specialist. And these individuals they get to know you and these are the same people that are gonna support you over time, which is a unique thing in the space we live and they're kind of your care team and they've got to go on vacation. They'll tell you you'll get a substitute.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

I mean it works just like any other longitudinal relationship and we found that both the hardware and the care team meets a great software experience that has content community goal tracking, food tracking, exercise tracking really can help support dialing those little knobs in your life that on a daily basis can sound small but a monthly basis really add up. And just to absolve any potential concerns, sometimes we often hear from folks that are maybe curious about the MOTO program Like, oh my gosh, am I going to have to revamp my entire lifestyle? Am I now hitting the gym seven days a week? The answer is no. In fact, if you told us that's what you wanted to do, we try to reign you in and say, hey, that's a loved ambition, it's baby steps, you can't, you cannot, it's not practical to do that 180. It's about the incremental 5% change every month and that's how you, you know, land in a path of durability while having some fun along the way.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

I love that. It sounds like you really built the program based off of the research on habits and understanding how behavior change actually happens. I was really lucky I got to interview BJ Fogg on this podcast.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Oh sure, yeah, I know him.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Yep, tiny habits and yeah, but it is our instinct. Sometimes, like it's January, I want to interview BJ Fogg on this podcast. Oh sure, yeah, I know him. Yep, tiny habits and yeah, but it is our instinct. Sometimes, like it's January, I want to change everything about my life.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

But we know, you know it really does not work for most people. So, you know, I mean we do see that it's interesting. I mean it's like a common failure point is like, okay, I'm ready. A common failure point is like, okay, I'm ready, Got the gym membership. You start going every single day You're only eating salads for dinner, and that's not the way that it works, you know. Equally, you know a restrictive diet tends to not long-term be durable. So Omada's approach is really about listening. You know what are your goals, what are some strategies for this week, for next week? And we found that that really can create a world where it feels like a glide path to all of a sudden waking up six months later and be like what the heck? I'm like a different person. This is incredible. My health feels better, my energy feels better, and it wasn't like that 180 hard sacrifice. There's a lot of positivity around it, and so that's what we hope to create for every single one of our millions of members.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

I love that your solution is available now for ERS health participants that are diagnosed with diabetes, and I know you haven't had a lot of our health plan participants maybe enrolled in the solution so far because we haven't pushed it out broadly. But I'm wondering what you've noticed. Is there anything unique that you can speak to with regards to public sector versus private sector clients?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

You know, absolutely. I mean, one of my favorite things about public sector clients is the diversity within their populations. You know we love that we have, though of course we're new to the ERS relationship. We have many organizations where we've worked with them that are similar and it's funny we've got like people that work at the post office, you know, police officers, teachers, I mean you name it. And that's amazing because the whole spirit of the Omada program is to leverage that diversity and personalized against it. And so it's really fun when we deploy with public sector clients because sometimes we're like, well, this is an amazing microcosm of life and it actually helps us make us better, it makes us stronger, because we've got so many unique differences in backgrounds and goals and shift schedules. I mean you name it. So I actually think if you ask which client types have helped you innovate more and you improve the program for that next individual, the most it tends to be our public sector clients.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Oh, that's great. That's great to hear I have been able to go through your program as a test user. I always like to participate in anything that we're going to promote to our participants, and one of the things that I really loved is your use of AI, like with the meal tracking. Can you speak a little bit to that and how you're using AI to help people easily, because I think that old school like find the food in the database and it's not in there. It can be super frustrating. Can you explain that to people?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Yeah, for sure. I mean, we're living in a world where, you know, through software advances, we're able to do things that I only dreamed about while at Google, and it's just such fun. And that's one example. You know there are some other amazing, you know AI enabled tools within Omada, but with food tracking, it is a piece of the program. The one thing I always like to start with is the goal of food tracking should be that you don't have to track, and that orientation is sometimes flipped to the other side with the tech companies where it's like I got this food tracking thing. You should track every single meal for the rest of your life.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

That, similarly, is not durable, and the goal is to track for the periods of the time where it makes sense to you to observe your behaviors. Okay, and so within that, the goal is how do you make that so easy? You know, make it simple. You know it's not a burden and their AI can help in amazing ways. I mean, it's such fun. You know they encourage everyone to use that feature. You take a picture of literally anything and it's going to do an incredible job of like. Is that, you know, kimchi or cabbage? It'll pull out the ingredients you know, summarize its best estimate of the macronutrients to your meal plan. Your coach will be able to engage with that and it's a blast to show to your friends and family. So that's a fun one, because the whole goal is to do everything we can to leverage innovation and software to make those little, you know, myths and difficulties on a behavior change path just easier and easier and easier. And that's that's one fun.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

It is so great, and I haven't tried the program for diabetes with the glucose monitor, but I'm guessing if I were to take that picture and at the time right after I eat, then it would help my coach to know what types of foods are actually spiking my blood sugar and then we can kind of talk about ways that we could modify that, is that?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

correct, that's totally right, and you're highlighting, I mean, a model for diabetes includes, you know, at part of the kind of the start, a set of continuous glucose meters and that, really easy to apply to your arm, doesn't hurt a bit, one of the coolest technologies. And exactly that pairing is so magical because you can understand everybody's body is different, especially if you have diabetes. If you just take a quick picture of the food you know as you eat it, and then that correlates to the biometric data that you see coming in your sugar levels, you get a quick sense for what's happening in your body. It's like a little you know behind the scenes tour of where your glucose is going, you know when you eat and we found that that, in iteration with your care team, can really help rein in. You know your, your glucose and the levels that are are more comfortable for your long-term health.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

I'm a health data nerd and I got a CG. I just bought a CGM myself to try it personally on my own, and I so, and I this is kind of crazy, because I did it during.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Thanksgiving week I don't know, just timing lined up. And one of the things that I thought so interesting was we went out, and we always do. The neighborhood has a turkey trot and so I went and I ran that morning and so I think I had burned so much glucose and then when I ate my Thanksgiving I did not have the same blood sugar spike that I was. You know, it did not spike, it was wild. I mean just, it's so interesting how your food absolutely impacts. But then we also probably start watching how much your physical activity, like just going out for a walk after you eat, could decrease your blood glucose.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

I'm sure it's so and it's so fun to like be able to find those observations on your own when you use a CGM and that's part of the positivity that I mentioned and you know it can be like kind of, you know it's fun. You get to self-experiment a little bit. You know see what happens when you drink a you know a big glass of orange juice and watch those sugars fly and be like oh interesting, that's what happens, oh interesting.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

But for your point, you know, if you go on a walk or run or otherwise, I mean, all of a sudden your muscles start to get really thirsty for glucose and it sucks it up.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Yeah.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

And so you know, a common thing with folks that are spiking after meals is you don't need to, you know, don't? You don't need to go run like a 5k after, but just go a little walk, yeah, after a meal, and you're going to see the night and day. Do an AB test Try one meal without, try one meal with, and let the data decide your path.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

And then your care team will help guide on things to try, which, per your point, can be really illuminating. Yeah, I love it. I think a lot of times people are really scared of technology and the direction we're going, but on the other side of that, I think there's a lot of things that can really help us to improve our health with the technology and it's exciting it's really exciting that we can use this to make us better. What is next for Omada? Do you have any tools or innovations that you're particularly excited about? What's on your roadmap?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Yeah, I mean, like every day, we wake up and try to make certain tiny aspects of the product better.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

So Omada for diabetes, I mean there's a lot on the roadmap.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

A lot of it does involve amazing AI features to help support better care for our members, even enable our care teams for more insight, while remaining the humanness and the compassion that we're known for. So I would say that that's the area of innovation I'm most excited about. It's just artificial intelligence and a blend between people and technology, because we remain firm believers that you need a human care team, you need that compassion, you need that accountability. I've yet to find someone who says, oh, I feel accountable to chat GPT, but there's so much expertise and insight that the models can provide. And I think that blend and that balancing act, especially with the data that Omada has been able to amass, leaves us really excited. I think the innovation pace at Omada now is faster than it's ever been. There's an adage that when you're growing a company, the things that you talk about in year one it'll take a decade to do, and it finally feels like we're able to actually kind of accomplish some of the things we only hoped we could. So it's an exciting roadmap ahead.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Wow. Well, I know it took no telling thousands of tiny steps to get to where you are today, but we're so grateful that you have built this program and that our members will be able to utilize it, and I hope it can help help support a lot of people in improving their health. Before I close, I always like to ask the question our program, our wellbeing program, is called Buena Vida, which means good life, and I'm curious what is a good life for you?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Yeah, no, I mean, that's that's, that's awesome, I mean. So there's, there's the obviously. If you look at every single happiness study, it tends to be once you're past a certain level of resources. It's all incremental and it's about friends and family and how you use your time. So I live out in East Bay and Walnut Creek and, blessed with you know, an amazing wife, two, two kiddos, and as tough as it is to have a three and a five-year-old, the ups make the downs worth it. And then, relative to health, of course, try to eat well while not being restrictive On holidays. Well, 4th of July, we start with a donut with our kids, and I like the approach we use at Omada, everything in moderation.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

And then I found, with physical activity, just given my schedule now, as know, crazily enough, a public company, former medical student, now public company ceo, I just need to find ways to fit uh, working out in in my daily life. And and just, and for me that's walking meetings with my team. If it's a one-on-one and just, you know, get out and have that phone call. But they're also, you know, I'd say, a lot of times I am working from home, not always there. There's a fitness studio that's within like a three minute walk to my home in this little plaza, and whatever is in there, I'll do. It. Used to be a rose studio and I'd show up at you know 7am and it's mostly like you know, wonderful grandmothers and me. Now it's now. It's like a functional strength training studio called P-Volve and I'm just there Like. So whatever, because of the convenience, it doesn't matter what exercise classes they have there, I'll do it.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

That's amazing. Yeah, Just, and that it's. It matters the proximity, the location where you're going to, where you're going to move. That's why I have a gym at home now, because I can't even make myself walk three minutes to go to a gym.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Exactly, it's about lowering that little bit of barrier of logistics time headache, and that's something that actually a thought partner, like a care team, can help you do, because it might not be intuitive. Really unpacking what's getting in the way of your activity requires, like pulling up a bit, a little bit of iteration, some brainstorming to find a solution that just feels embedded into your life.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

That's great. Yeah Well, is there anything that I should have asked you that I didn't?

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

You know, I think you, you, you gave an amazing summary and you know and putting, obviously, you know I always like to make myself directly available for any feedback or thoughts, so feel free to flick me an email If you find anything that you think you'd want in the product. It's just Sean S-E-A-N at omadahealthcom and I'll make sure you know we get the teams on your feedback. But you know, if you do choose to sign up for OMADA, what a privilege to be able to support you and an honor to be partnering with ERS.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Thank you so much. I'm going to put the link for the registration for OMADA in the show notes, so if you're listening and want to check that out, I'll also put Sean's email address, since he said we could share that. It says a lot to me when a company is willing to share their CEO with us for a conversation. So thank you for that and we're looking forward to great things for our members.

Sean Duffy, Co-founder & CEO Omada Health:

Wonderful Lacey. Well, thank you for having me.

Lacy Wolff, ERS:

Yeah, take care. All right, everyone. That wraps up our conversation with Sean Duffy on the Omada for Diabetes program. I hope you found this conversation insightful and you learned something new. I know that I sure did. I think it was great how he talked about the fact that technology and our small daily actions can really make a big difference in managing our health. Whether you have diabetes or you don't, all of it matters. If you'd like to learn more about this program specifically, including eligibility requirements and the details, you can find a link in the show notes to a webpage that will give you everything you need and a link to registration. If you want to apply to participate for yourself, even if you don't have diabetes, I hope you'll consider sharing this with someone in your life that might benefit from it, because you might be the reason that someone else takes a first step toward better health. So until next time, here's to living your version of the good life, whatever that looks like, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Take care.