intervent MD Network

Recent evidence suggests that weight management programs are indicated for over 30% of the population and this number is growing. Canadian guidelines advocate for health risk assessments every one to three years for every male over the age of 40 and every female over the age of 50 (or earlier if post-menopausal). There are few (if any) evidence-based alternatives to INTERVENT/WM that provide comprehensive health risk assessments and the algorithmically driven goals, action plans, educational programs and coaching that follow.

Being physicians ourselves, the management of INTERVENT know how little time busy practitioners have, to devote to weight management and lifestyle counselling, and how poorly family physicians are compensated by provincial healthcare plans for providing preventive care and weight management services to their patients.

INTERVENT/WM is an evidence-based and scientifically proven lifestyle and weight management program designed to address this gap.

With a simple referral, you could provide your patients with medically managed weight loss, supervised by a family physician who has joined the INTERVENT MD Network.

Alternatively, with a brief training program on INTERVENT/WM, you could join the INTERVENT MD Network and be appropriately compensated by INTERVENT, for providing this privately paid and important service to not only your own obese patients, but to patients in your area who have searched on our website for an INTERVENT trained physician.

Used for over 20 years in more than 200 corporate and academic settings, INTERVENT is supported by more than 100 peer-reviewed studies in major medical journals. INTERVENT was created by a team of health professionals led by Dr. Neil Gordon. Dr. Gordon is the former Chief Medical and Science Officer for Nationwide Better Health, Chair of the American Heart Association’s Exercise Rehabilitation Committee and professor of medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Through a combination of educational materials and one-on-one coaching, INTERVENT/WM teaches patients how to modify their lifestyle and improve their nutrition, using state-of-the-art behavioural learning strategies. The program compliments usual-care settings, using the internet and proprietary technology for scheduling and delivering telephonic health support from dieticians and health coaches.

For those physicians who choose to join our MD Network, INTERVENT/WM provides quick and easy training and on-going support to you and your staff, while taking care of all of the heavy lifting required to achieve the weight loss and lifestyle goals of your existing and any new patients we find for you. We have refined the process to ensure minimal, if any, disruption in your office flow.

INTERVENT/WM is concordant with C-CHANGE ¹ Canadian national guidelines, delivering preventative care through the web and certified healthcare professionals.

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¹ The C-CHANGE (Canadian Cardiovascular Harmonization of National Guidelines Endeavour) Initiative was developed as a joint community project to create harmonized guidelines. Sheldon W. Tobe MD, James A. Stone MD PhD, Melissa Brouwers PhD, Onil Bhattacharyya MD PhD, Kimberly M. Walker BA, Martin Dawes MD PhD, Jacques Genest Jr MD, Steven Grover MD MPA,
Gordon Gubitz MD, David Lau MD PhD, Andrew Pipe MD, Peter Selby MBBS, Mark S. Tremblay MD MSc, Darren E.R. Warburton PhD, Richard Ward MD, Vincent Woo MD, Lawrence A. Leiter MD, Peter P. Liu MD

this is why we’re different

Several features distinguish INTERVENT/WM from other lifestyle programs:

Comprehensiveness of health risk assessment

INTERVENT/WM programs don’t just assess risk using survey data, but incorporate actual laboratory and biometric data using standardized methods. Moreover, the programs present the risk to patients and their healthcare providers in multiple ways, breaking down each risk factor into its more basic elements, and describing the implications using graphs, charts and educational materials.

Robustness of programs

INTERVENT/WM doesn’t just provide an assessment of risk, but also provides step-by-step programs that offer individualized coaching. Our coaches are all certified healthcare professionals (such as dieticians, nurses, pharmacists and exercise physiologists) who have undergone intensive certification for INTERVENT/WM delivery. The programs are delivered in a standardized fashion to ensure reproducible results, and include extensive quality control measures to ensure appropriate delivery when applied to the population.

History and scientific validity

INTERVENT/WM was created by one of the pioneers of preventative care, Dr. Neil Gordon, in collaboration with academic scientific leaders from Stanford University over 20 years ago. INTERVENT programs have been used by more than 2 million participants through more than 200 institutions, including leading academic institutions (such as Fraser Health Authority in BC, Wood Buffalo Primary Care Network, Ottawa Heart Institute). More than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and abstracts have demonstrated the scientific efficacy of the program among many subgroups of the population, including those at risk for metabolic syndrome, as well as those with heart disease-related complications and other non-cardiac comorbidity. Randomized clinical trials conducted by independent third-party academic institutions have demonstrated comparable efficacy when compared to on-site cardiac rehabilitation and superior efficacy over other home-based academic programs.

Extensive reporting

We obtain patient consent to deliver reports to doctors. This provides healthcare professionals with a review of their patients’ risks’, behaviours’ and medications, which can serve to enhance medical records and simplify annual physical exams and the counselling that follow. Where appropriate, INTERVENT/WM provides recommendations for screening and treatment, in accordance with Canadian national guidelines. Finally, reporting sheds light on how patients are progressing throughout their program.

Remuneration

We know how little time busy practitioners have, to devote to weight management and lifestyle counselling, and how poorly family physicians are compensated by provincial healthcare plans for providing preventive care and weight management services to their patients. We also recognize that family physician income across Canada has dropped substantially over the past 5 years (29% in Ontario according to the Ontario Medical Association). Should you wish to join our team of INTERVENT physicians (the “INTERVENT MD Network”) whether practicing as an individual physician, or as part of a FHG or FHO, you will receive remuneration from INTERVENT/WM, for the services that you and your staff provide, that we believe will make a substantial difference to your annual income, while at the same time providing your patients with the highest level of care. Should you wish to learn more contact us at: mdnetwork@intervent.ca

Research development & evaluation

The INTERVENT/WM program-development initiative is coupled with an extensive research initiative, which ensures program effectiveness and safety so that it continues to meet and surpass clinical expectations.

Privacy & Confidentiality

Recognizing the importance of confidentiality and privacy to patient participation, we have ensured that INTERVENT/WM complies with and in most cases exceeds all relevant health-privacy legislation, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Participants must provide explicit permission for sharing their information with INTERVENT/WM, and we in turn guarantee that all program information is kept between INTERVENT/WM, participants, health-coaches and, their physicians.