Weight Loss Revolution: Combining Medicine And Lifestyle For Success with Robert MacNaughton, CEO of Calibrate

[00:00:01] This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket, your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit outcomesrocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.

[00:00:30] Hey everyone, Saul Marquez here with the Outcomes Rocket with the amazing Rob McNaughton. He is the CEO of Calibrate. You guys have probably heard my discussion with him when we were at Health, but we're here at JPMorgan and we have JPMorgan Insights and Predictions. I'm excited to dig into it. Rob, for those that haven't heard and seen you on the podcast, tell them a little bit about you and tell them about Calibrate.

[00:00:55] Certainly. So Calibrate is a Weight and Obesity solution. We focus on dovetailing anti-obesity medications, notably GLP-1s, with physician-led lifestyle intervention in PHA. And we have a D2C solution, but more emphasis lately has been on what I'll say is our enterprise solution, which is partnering with self-insured employers and PBMs to deliver our leading weight and obesity management solutions.

[00:01:21] And so think of us as a clinical care of excellence for weight and obesity management. And we've been a pioneer in this space, dovetailing again anti-obesity medications with lifestyle intervention coaching for five years. We publish our results and we have the best in class results. In fact, later this month, we'll be launching our most recent annual report. We've been doing this for four years now.

[00:01:42] And we have the most rich, robust longitudinal data and results such that our members on average is 16% of their body weight after year one, 70% of their body weight after year two, and 19% of their body weight after year three.

[00:01:57] So most notably, it's more weight loss than just on the drugs alone. But more importantly, it's sustainable weight loss. These GLP-1 drones in particular are powerful drug therapies, but they need to be done in concert with lifestyle intervention coaching to get truly life-changing sustainable results.

[00:02:16] And that's Calibrate. And it's really exciting to be in this space. As you and I chatted about last time at Health, I think weight and obesity management, particularly in this era, is one of the few points of light in U.S. healthcare that truly has the promise of not only phenomenal healthcare outcomes, but lowering the total cost of care.

[00:02:35] Yeah. And there's a lot of benefits. People feel them fast. Thank you for that, by the way. Great to kind of share with everybody where you guys are focused. And moving to the employer space, I think, is ultimately the big opportunity. It allows us to have better access to these solutions for people because as of now, these therapies are quite expensive. Yeah. So talk to us about any insights that have risen up for you while here at the conference.

[00:03:02] Well, it's interesting. I've been coming to JPM for over 10 years. And at the end of the day, I still think much of the topics and discussions are around engagement, affordability, and access to care. And so certainly I think maybe some topics change a bit, but those are really the key things is how can we improve healthcare outcomes in the U.S. and have, I think, a sustainable economic engine to do so.

[00:03:31] And so I think it's interesting as times change, I think those core pillars have remained fundamentally the same. What's I think interesting about this JPM is that certainly the topic of AI has come up. And will we see how AI can help support healthcare and healthcare outcomes and help scale? Like, will that happen this year, next year? Like, when will that rhetoric turn into reality?

[00:03:55] And then I think this year is just, from a timing standpoint, interesting with a new administration change at the national level. I think there's that growing consensual realization that there are structural problems that need to be addressed against healthcare. And so with a new administration, there's always a mix of trepidation and optimism about, you know, how and if things can be done. And so I think that's also in the mix here as well. Thank you for that, Rob.

[00:04:22] And so with this discussion around trepidation or optimism, which one is it? What are your predictions for 2025? Well, most of my time, energy, and effort has been on the weight and obesity in the space. And so that's where I have the most optimism. Yeah. As I highlighted before, I think this is one of the few areas in U.S. healthcare that has the true promise of increasing healthcare outcomes at the individual level, as well as lowering total cost of care.

[00:04:50] And I feel that, you know, as we're a few more years into this and as we get better at clinical pathways and truly understanding the lifestyle intervention and coaching aspect side of things, you know, I think we're on the cusp of really being able to definitively prove these solutions lower the total cost of care, which would be a watershed event in U.S. healthcare.

[00:05:09] And so for me, that's where a lot of my own personal optimism lies is that I'm really excited and honored to be in this space because I do think this is going to be one of the vanguards to actually improving healthcare outcomes and I think the sustainability of U.S. healthcare in general. Yeah, no, I love it. Thanks for the optimism. You know, there's different takes. And so it's great to hear your optimism.

[00:05:35] And so, you know, when you come to like JPM, I know there's a lot of ways to do it, you know? So for me personally, this is my first JPM. We've been helping clients come to this event for years. But like, what approach do you take and what advice would you give to people that maybe haven't been here or have come here without bearing many fruits? Well, I think one of the greatest advantages of JPM is that a lot of the healthcare community is here. Yeah.

[00:06:03] And so it's a great meeting point. So typically my schedule over the last several years has been relatively dense with meetings. It's a highly efficient, productive use of time. And what I found is the more and more you come here, it's almost like there's an alumni homecoming aspect. Yeah. Like I meet with colleagues at, you know, other places I've worked in the past. There's very much a social aspect as well. So, you know, I have found the benefit to getting maximum benefit at JPM.

[00:06:30] It's in November and December, you're reaching out to colleagues about getting on the calendar because these calendars can get dense fast. And so it's the pre-work, I think, you know, 60 days in advance. Totally. That allows you to have, you know, a tremendous amount of efficiency here. And it's largely because, you know, credit to the organizers of JPM, like they have done a phenomenal job of bringing, you know, leaders from all facets of healthcare to San Francisco in mid-January. The energy. It's always a pillar on the calendar. The energy is insane.

[00:07:00] It's high. Everybody's walking around. Yep. There's meetings everywhere, coffee shops, restaurants. And so, like, you get everything in the calendar, but what about location? Do you leave that open? Like, it's a great question. Location, TBD? Because, you know, there's no meeting venue. Right. I mean, the conference is actually across the street, but like in terms of like all the ancillary meetings, it's amorphous. It's in the Union Square area.

[00:07:25] And so, you know, for the last 10 or so years, I've always placed value of staying. In Union Square. In Union Square. Yeah, yeah. For sure. And it's incredibly expensive. Yeah. And so, I end up paying exorbitant amounts and staying in sketchier areas of town that are adjacent to Union Square. I'm staying in Oakland. Yeah. I mean, like, you know, I drove over the bridge. So, this year I decided to change it up because I was never going back to my room during the day. Because your meetings are so densely packed.

[00:07:53] And so, now I'm staying in Ghirardelli Square, which is just a 10-minute Uber ride in a much nicer hotel than what I typically stay in. What square is it? Ghirardelli Square? Ghirardelli Square. Ghirardelli Square. Okay. Cool. Good tip. Yeah. And so… Pro tip. Folks, pro tip. I'm a slow learner. It took me 10, 12 years to figure this out. That's not usually. That's awesome. And it's, yeah, it's been much fun. That's cool, man. Thanks for that tip. You know, I always get to learn from veterans like yourself.

[00:08:18] As we close out our chat here, what should people be looking for from Calibrate and how can they learn more? Well, thank you. Well, first of all, our URL is joincalibrate.com. In terms of what to expect from Calibrate, it is, I think, us continuing to be a pioneer in leading in the space with the various clinical pathways with utilizing anti-OBC medications. Again, physician-led lifestyle intervention and coaching.

[00:08:42] Our focus over the last 12 to 18 months has been really partnering with self-insured employers so that they can implement these weight and obesity management solutions with a clinical center of excellence and condition management for partners such as us. And I think for us, it's all about ultimate growth as more and more employers are looking at weight and obesity management solutions to really help them rein in, frankly, kind of runaway costs with regards to healthcare.

[00:09:09] Again, these solutions at the individual level are powerful. And I'm sure you and many of your audience members have either direct personal relationship or one degree of separation from someone. It's probably kind of phenomenal weight loss journey. Absolutely. And so I think we're just at this interesting inflection point where I think you're going to see increased adoption and utilization. And frankly, that's where we as Calibrate can drive tremendous value in US health.

[00:09:40] Having those phenomenal healthcare outcomes, but being thoughtful and intentional about the investment and the sustainability of not only healthcare outcomes, but frankly, from an economic standpoint as well. I love it. Thank you so much, Rob. This is super insightful. And for everybody out there, you know, check out the tips, check out the things that Rob and his team at Calibrate are up to. This is it for today's interview with Rob McNaughton, CEO of Calibrate here from the JP Morgan Conference in San Francisco. Thanks, Rob.

[00:10:09] Thank you. Appreciate it. This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket, your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth.

[00:10:37] Visit outcomesrocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.