As patients and employers look for alternatives to pricey GLP-1 drugs, Silicon Valley startup Twin Health is using AI and wearable sensors to help people make healthier choices. Rodney Buckley has lost 100 pounds in less than a year, not by using a GLP-1 drug but with the help of a digital twin. Last March, the 55-year-old retired firefighter turned village mayor of Third Lake, Illinois, was 376 pounds. He had tried different diets over the years and would typically lose some weight but eventually gain it back. When his wife's employer started offering a program from startup Twin Health, he thought he would give it a try.

Keeping blood sugar under control can improve outcomes in patients, but that's not always easy to do. Now, doctors are using artificial intelligence to help! Researchers are now using the technology to help people with Type 2 diabetes get their disease under control. "Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness," explained Mary Vouyiouklis Kellis, an endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic. "It can also affect kidney function. It can affect nerves, it can increase the risk for lower limb amputation."

Last month I presented for a wide audience of healthcare experts on the state of Digital therapeutics and explained how these different solutions (aka data silos) could be leveraged together in my personal digital twin. Afterwards, the innovation architect of one of the leading Belgian payers (sickness insurance funds or mutualities) reached out to me and asked one simple question. That question was not'what is a Digital Twin'? It was'should we build a Digital Twin for each of our 4.6 million members if we want to transform from a sick fund into a health fund? Which digital tools could we trust to guide us on this journey?