ADA, OAC, and TOS Collaborate on Models for Obesity Care

It was remarkable and much needed. On the pre-convention day for ObesityWeek in Atlanta, ADA, OAC, and TOS began work to collaborate on models for obesity care that will begin to deliver on a scale that matches the urgency and scope of unmet medical need.

TOS Vice-President Jonathan Purnell described the urgency of this to us:

“The need to address this means it cannot come soon enough for our patients. We can draw upon existing models of chronic disease management for inspiration, like treating hypertension and diabetes, but today’s conference highlights the unique challenges to providing comprehensive obesity care: overcoming stigma and bias at the provider level, with policy makers, and by insurers.”

The State of Obesity Care

TOS President Marc Cornier and the ADA’s Samar Hafida opened the day-long meeting with a show of unity that reflects the seriousness of this challenge. Hafida is Vice-President of the Obesity Association for the ADA.

Then Joe Nadglowski and Ted Kyle set the stage for the day. They described the state of obesity care as patients experience it. At times, it borders on the absurd. They walked through the experiences of a hypothetical patient, Tanya. Nadglowski described her experiences in current systems, which so often fail to put a person’s health first in dealing with obesity. Kyle contrasted that with how a more integrated path might work.

But perhaps more compelling was Nadglowski’s own personal experiences with stigmatizing providers and insurers creating opaque and absurd barriers for affordable care.

An Encouraging Collaboration

It set the stage for a productive day of workgroups addressing the needs for primary care, specialty care, obesity medicine and surgery, and community resources, At the end of the day, we had the inputs for constructing models for care that will actually work for the people living with this disease.

“I’m tremendously encouraged to see this level of energy for collaboration between organizations that could just as easily see each other as rivals,” said Nadglowski afterward. “All of us are working together toward giving patients the best care.”

This is the challenge we confront for overcoming obesity.

Click here for our slides on the state of obesity care, here and here for further perspective.

Sara Ro Presenting on Models of Obesity Care, photograph by Ted Kyle / ConscienHealth

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November 4, 2025