Caroline Carney Moderates Panel on the Payer Perspective on Food Prescriptions

Boston, MA — September, 29, 2022 — Good Measures’ Caroline Carney moderated the panel “PRx and Payers: Considerations for Plans as They Approach Food Prescriptions” as part of the National Produce Prescription Collaborative’s Day of Action. 

“I am encouraged to see so many health plans embracing food as medicine initiatives and including food prescriptions in their offerings,” said Caroline Carney, Good Measures Chief Customer Officer. “The strategy coming out of the White House Conference links nutrition to healthcare costs and health outcomes, and seeks to improve food access and affordability. We’ve already seen that food prescriptions can be a powerful solution.” 

Some takeaways from the panel discussion were that from a health plan and payer perspective, food prescription programs must be: 

• Able to evolve, grow, and adapt to health plans’ changing needs and populations. 

• Culturally appropriate to the specific population. 

• Offering a positive member experience and thus impact to Star Ratings. 

• Designed to solve specific problems. 

• Sustainable and give participants resources and tools to continue making positive changes. 

• Tailored to a plan’s goals and population, which means considering disease prevalence, regional concerns, culture, and other factors. 

• Collaborative with other health plan teams and community partners. 

• Ready and able to show value through member satisfaction, patient-reported outcomes, and cost savings. 

The Day of Action was held to respond to the food as medicine platform presented during the previous day’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and to establish a strategic plan for further embedding the produce prescription model into standard healthcare practice over the next two years.