Introduction
Virtual care leader Omada Health is taking a bold step forward in cardiometabolic health by adding high cholesterol management to its growing digital care platform. The expansion signals a critical shift in how virtual health companies are addressing the full spectrum of interconnected chronic conditions — not just diabetes and blood pressure, but cholesterol too.
The Cholesterol Gap in Cardiometabolic Care
A staggering overlap exists between obesity and high cholesterol that has gone largely unaddressed.
Studies show that as many as 70% of adults living with obesity also have elevated cholesterol levels. Despite this alarming statistic, a significant portion of these individuals never achieve healthy cholesterol levels. This gap represents a major missed opportunity in managing cardiometabolic conditions holistically and effectively.
High cholesterol rarely exists in isolation. When combined with other risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, or diabetes, it becomes a compounding threat to long-term cardiovascular health. Omada Health recognized this gap and designed a targeted solution to fill it.
What Omada for Cholesterol Offers
Omada for Cholesterol is an AI-powered, human-led program built to tackle one of America’s most overlooked health issues.
The new offering is embedded directly within Omada’s existing cardiometabolic platform, which already supports weight management, blood pressure control, and diabetes care. By integrating cholesterol management into this unified ecosystem, Omada ensures patients receive coordinated, continuous care rather than fragmented, condition-by-condition treatment.
The platform focuses on lifestyle modification as the first and most powerful line of defense — emphasizing dietary changes, fitness habits, and daily behavioral adjustments that can meaningfully lower cholesterol over time.
AI-Powered Coaching and Multidisciplinary Support
Members gain access to a full care team combining technology with human expertise.
Omada’s platform connects patients with a multidisciplinary team that includes dedicated health coaches and cardiometabolic specialists. Together, they address a wide range of patient needs, including:
- Nutrition guidance tailored to cholesterol-lowering dietary patterns
- Behavior change support to build sustainable healthy habits
- Medication adherence coaching for patients currently on statins or other cholesterol-lowering medications
This team-based approach ensures that no aspect of a patient’s care journey is overlooked — from what they eat at dinner to whether they’re consistently taking their prescribed medications.
Addressing the Statin Conversation
Growing public skepticism around statins is steering some patients away from necessary care.
Thomas Tsang, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Omada Health, highlighted a concerning trend: cholesterol management is often deprioritized in clinical settings, with greater attention placed on metrics like A1C levels. At the same time, increasing public debate around statins — medications commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol — is causing some patients to delay or avoid seeking proper care.
Omada’s approach directly addresses this by educating patients about statins, supporting adherence, and helping individuals understand both the benefits and the context of their medications. The goal is informed, empowered patients — not patients driven by misinformation or fear.
Day-to-Day Support Beyond Periodic Lab Visits
Standard cholesterol care leaves patients without guidance between appointments — Omada changes that.
Traditional care for high cholesterol is largely reactive, built around periodic lab work and occasional physician visits. This leaves patients without meaningful support for the vast majority of their day-to-day health decisions. Omada’s platform is specifically designed to bridge this gap, offering continuous, real-time engagement that keeps patients on track between clinical touchpoints.
“We believe we have to really pursue a narrative and get America to pay attention to this problem, which is so, so preventable with starting with lifestyle modification and paying attention to what you eat,” said Dr. Tsang.
Preventing the “Forest Fire” of Cardiometabolic Risk
Untreated cholesterol is a spark — but combined with other risks, it becomes a wildfire.
Dr. Tsang used a vivid analogy to describe the danger of unchecked cholesterol: a single high cholesterol reading may act like a “tiny little spark in the woods” on its own. But when combined with other cardiometabolic risk factors — high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, excess weight — those sparks multiply rapidly.
“The more of these little sparks that you have — the more exposure you have — the more chances you’re going to have this huge forest fire,” he said.
Omada’s platform aims to intervene early, putting patients on a path toward healthier cholesterol levels before a serious cardiovascular event occurs. Prevention, not reaction, is the platform’s guiding principle.
