Excess Weight: Where the CKM Cluster Begins

Excess weight is where CKM Syndrome begins. 73% of U.S. adults carry excess weight, and 40% of U.S. seniors are classified as obese. Over time, excess weight leads to the related conditions of the CKM cluster: hypertension, coronary artery disease and Type 2 diabetes, with growing strain on the kidneys.

Progress happens in small steps

Weight management is built from daily choices: meals, movement, sleep and medications. Those choices happen at home, and a few minutes at a visit every few months is not much support for them. Patients often do best with steady, low-pressure contact that notices progress and catches setbacks early.

A thirty-second check-in

With the PDS™ Patient Data System, the care team chooses a few questions that fit the patient’s plan, such as today’s weight, minutes walked yesterday and how they are feeling about their goals. It takes about thirty seconds a day on the patient’s own phone, and the answers become a trend the clinician can review at the next visit.

A real person in their corner

Through the CareConnect™ care team chat, patients can ask questions and get encouragement from a real person. EBM handles that between-visit contact, and escalates to the physician when a plan, medication or referral may need to change.

Breathing and sleep, too

Excess weight is also closely tied to obstructive sleep apnea and can make COPD harder to manage. Following the whole patient means those conditions are part of the same conversation.

EBM does not add work to the clinic. Our team handles the between-visit workload, escalates what needs attention and documents everything, while physicians stay in control of every clinical decision. There are no CPT codes required, no payer qualification, and no hiring, equipment purchase or IT build-out. Anyone in the chronic population can participate, regardless of age, diagnosis or insurance type.

Part of our series on CKM Syndrome and chronic disease. Related conditions: Copd, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, chronic kidney disease.