DispatchHealth In-Home Providers Can Now Easily Prescribe Food, Thanks to Instacart
Grocery tech company Instacart has teamed with in-home medical provider DispatchHealth to ensure that patients have access to nutritious foods. Using Instacart Health technology, DispatchHealth’s in-home providers are now able to prescribe food as easily as they do traditional medications. The collaboration aims to lessen the considerable impact of food insecurity on health care costs.
“Our patients’ well-being is closely tied to their environment, and we witness firsthand how social determinants like nutritional accessibility affect their overall health,” said Dr. Phil Mitchell, chief medical officer of Denver-based DispatchHealth, which offers a range of medical treatments to patients of all ages. “We are literally in the kitchen with our patients, and not many provider groups can get to that level of granularity. Our collaboration with Instacart empowers us to bridge these gaps and bring about tangible improvements in our patients’ lives.”
Instacart Health leverages Instacart’s platform, products and partnerships to boost access to nutritious foods, spur healthy choices and scale food-as-medicine programs across the United States. The program enables DispatchHealth’s medical professionals to allocate digital category-specific food stipends to patients using Fresh Funds, offer patients medically tailored shopping lists via customized virtual storefronts, and deliver food directly to patients’ homes in as fast as an hour through Care Carts, which could help increase adherence rates.
“Nutrition access is fundamental to maintaining and improving health, and leveraging Instacart’s technology and reach, we’re able to partner with at-home care providers like DispatchHealth to ensure their patients can get the essentials they need delivered from the local retailers they trust,” noted Sarah Mastrorocco, VP and general manager of Instacart Health. “Our tools also help patients engage with DispatchHealth’s medically tailored nutrition education and inspiration, allowing them to take immediate action on their provider’s expert advice.”
Additionally, Instacart accepts diverse payment options on its platform, including FSA and HSA cards, eligible Medicare Advantage health payment cards like OTC Network, and SNAP benefits, further increasing patient access to essential foods. The San Francisco-based company partners with more than 1,400 national, regional and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from 80,000-plus stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.
