Healthcare’s Food is Medicine Movement Now Has a Network of Excellence

Analysis? |? By Eric Wicklund? |?? HealthLeaders

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Kaiser Permanente and Tufts have launched a resource for best practices in developing a food is medicine strategy. Highmark Health and Geisinger are among the founding health systems.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Healthcare organizations have for several years been exploring strategies to improve clinical outcomes through better diet and nutrition. Some health systems are developing programs and partnering with organizations that provide access to healthy foods and nutrition guidance for people living with chronic conditions.

Healthcare leaders looking to launch or refine Food is Medicine strategies now have a center of excellence to explore best practices and other resources.

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Kaiser Permanente and Tuft’s University’s Food is Medicine Institute at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy have officially launched the Food is Medicine National Network of Excellence. The center’s founding members include Highmark Health, Geisinger, Elevance Health, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, CVS Health and Devoted Health.

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The network addresses a fast-growing innovation in healthcare: The idea of using food and nutrition in care management. Providers are finding that the right diet can improve clinical outcomes and are developing programs and partnerships to help patients access the food they need.

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Last year the Food is Medicine Coalition, comprised of community-based non-profit food providers, released a 32-page accreditation standard aimed at giving providers and other organizations guidance on developing medically tailored meals and meal plans.

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“Each year, suboptimal diets and food insecurity cause more than 500,000 deaths and cost the U.S. economy $1.1 trillion in healthcare and lost productivity,” Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute, said in a press release announcing the Network of Excellence. “By working together, we can scale evidence-based nutritional interventions that are driving change, improving health, and reducing disparities.”

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Kaiser Permanente has long been at the forefront of this strategy. The health system launched a collaboration with grocery technology company Instacart during the HLTH conference in 2023 to study how California residents living with chronic conditions and enrolled in the state’s Medi-Cal Medicaid program can access food and resources on healthy eating.

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"We know food and nutrition insecurity is felt by people in the communities we serve, as well as for by millions of Americans nationwide," Pamela Schwartz, MPH, executive director of food security at Kaiser Permanente, said in a press release. "Identifying best practices to address these inequities is essential to building healthier communities."

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Kaiser Permanente and the other organizations involved in the new Network of Excellence will focus on three priorities:

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Members will develop frameworks to assess the impact of Food is Medicine interventions, measuring health outcomes and cost-effectiveness. The network will share insights and identify opportunities to optimize program design and delivery. Members will promote the effectiveness of Food is Medicine through industry engagement and communication with policymakers and the public.

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Eric Wicklund is the associate content manager and senior editor for Innovation at HealthLeaders.