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Spotted: Health insurance is big business, but the high cost of health insurance also makes it controversial. This is why a number of companies are working on ways to improve the access and cost of insurance. Springwise has recently covered insurance that turns on and off as users travel and health insurance via an ATM. Now, digital health service Virta has proposed a new payment model. Virta does not charge users a fee unless patients improve.

Virta focuses on providing management to patients with Type 2 diabetes. The company takes its first payment only if patients show a certain amount of engagement in the first month of their enrolment in the plan. The second payment is taken after one year, and only if the patient meets certain criteria in improving their blood glucose levels. While this type of payment model is not unique, what is different is that Virta’s treatment does not include any medication. Instead, the company offers patients monitoring and online coaching to bring their weight down and their disease under control.

Virta’s system uses machine learning algorithms to provide a personalised approach. Their platform helps patients track hunger, energy and blood levels for ketone and glucose. Patients can also access a digital messaging platform where clinicians provide individual coaching to help patients meet their goals. Tracking tools on the platform include a smart scale, a device that takes glucose and ketone level measurements and more. Virta claims to be the first clinically-proven treatment to safely and sustainably reverse type 2 diabetes without the use of medication.