AI coach in the Weight Doctors® App: sustainably towards a comfortable weight with artificial intelligence

Advice on nutrition and exercise in real time

In October 2023, the Weight Doctors® App received an update: an AI coach for all patients, which adds a digital layer to the 360° support approach of Weight Doctors®. The system, developed in the USA, in Silicon Valley, uses artificial intelligence to give help in real time when losing weight – on nutrition, exercise behaviour and a healthy lifestyle.

It is based on the experience from what was then more than 12,000 treatments at the Weight Doctors® locations. The system, tailored to Weight Doctors®, recognises early whether patients are on the right track, would like additional advice or need medical support.

For the medical management of the group, the time factor was above all decisive: the system makes it possible to react even to small deviations – long before setbacks occur.

Scales, app and AI coach

The Weight Doctors® concept for holistic weight management then stood on two pillars: a digital Bluetooth scale measures weight and body composition, and the further-developed Weight Doctors® App with the AI coach accompanies you around the clock, 365 days a year and always individually on the way to your target weight.

The coach combines the experience of Weight Doctors® with personal factors such as the obesity treatment carried out, age, weight-loss goal and other personal details. This creates personal coaching around the clock – not just as online coaching but as a companion on the way to more mental strength and inner well-being.

Available at any time

Viewable at any time on your phone, the AI coach shows all developments at a glance. Studies on food and exercise diaries show that honest, accurate documentation can help to develop a more conscious and healthier lifestyle. The AI coach goes one step further because it does not just collect the data but also evaluates it.

A procedure such as a stomach reduction or GLP-⁠1 therapy often raises many questions in new everyday life. The coach answers a large part of them directly, drawing on broad, generally available knowledge. Because it is connected to the treating team at the same time, patients are not left alone at any point on their journey. Soon after the start, it was already evident that the app noticeably strengthens patient satisfaction.

Connected with the treatment team

Through the connection to the treating Weight Doctors® team, the AI coach also enables support from a distance. If it notices something – for example that the weight is falling too fast, too slowly or not at all –, the team is informed. The practitioners can then get in touch promptly and help further by one-to-one video consultation or secure text message.

The coach knows the extensive body of experience that Weight Doctors® have gathered in accompanying thousands of patients. Because the system brings data and conversation notes together centrally, patient advisers and the new 360 coaches can start in a targeted way at any time – without a time-consuming medical history each time.

Security up to date

The AI coach is intended to give patients and practitioners alike security: it accompanies the path to your desired weight around the clock and reliably. The sensitive data is protected by modern IT standards – the system meets the requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the data protection laws of more than 40 other countries and is certified to ISO 27001, the international standard for information security.

The system gives the treating teams at the Weight Doctors® locations in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and South Africa the opportunity to keep an eye on all medically important values. They too are not left alone in this: the practices receive training and ongoing support in using the system.

Prof. Dr. med. Karl Miller, specialist in general and visceral surgery, saw above all one thing in the close, personal contact with the team that the coach makes possible: a markedly greater feeling of security for patients.

Weight Doctors® in 2023

At the launch of the AI coach, Weight Doctors® were represented at 12 locations in Germany and offered the paths of modern obesity treatment: from GLP-⁠1 therapy, which acts hormonally on the metabolism, via the gastric balloon to minimally invasive stomach surgery as part of Weight Doctors BARIATRICS®. In addition came the Weight Doctors SLEEVE® – the permanent stomach reduction without conventional surgery, in which the stomach volume is reduced by up to 75%.

The AI coach and app were then an integral part of every treatment. How the app is integrated into support today, you can read under 360° nutrition coaching and in the article on the Weight Doctors® App.