Digital food-as-medicine firm NourishedRx is partnering with fintech firm ProHealth Hook up with make it simpler for sufferers to entry home-delivered meals and diet assist in 2024, the businesses introduced Tuesday.

Stamford, Connecticut-based NourishedRx serves payers and suppliers and affords personalised meals options, equivalent to grocery assist, ready meals and meal kits. It additionally offers diet training and wraparound assist like serving to sufferers join the Supplemental Diet Help Program. New York Metropolis-based ProHealth Join helps unbiased, community-based retailers settle for well being plan supplemental advantages, significantly over-the-counter and grocery advantages. It primarily helps Medicare Benefit members however is beginning to assist Medicaid members.

NourishedRx is becoming a member of ProHealth Join’s community, that means its diet choices are accessible for members of 46 payers with meals advantages by way of a ProHealth Join OTC or flex card. These members will be capable to obtain NourishedRx’s meals supply companies and its wraparound assist. The partnership impacts about 17 million members. 

“We’ve been actually enthusiastic about working with a delivery-based meals mannequin for fairly a while now. It’s been lacking from our device belt. … That is meals supply on steroids due to all of the medical points wrapped round this,” stated Andrew Winakor, president of ProHealth Join, in an interview.

As well as, NourishedRx’s platform is being built-in with ProHealth Join’s API, which permits members to obtain personalised meals bundles primarily based on their dietary wants and preferences.

The partnership comes at a time when there’s a dire want for diet assist. About 17 million households within the U.S. are meals insecure. As well as, 74% of People are chubby or have weight problems and 93% of American adults have poor cardiometabolic well being.

“The necessity is simply manifestly apparent, however I feel the place our partnership is de facto fantastic is that sometimes for well being plans and for particular person well being plan members, [getting] entry to wholesome meals and relatable diet data will not be so apparent,” stated Lauren Driscoll, CEO of NourishedRx. “Individuals have all completely different levels of understanding of diet and publicity to wholesome meals. Many individuals also have a nostalgic attachment to unhealthy meals as a result of it’s what they’ve eaten their complete life. … By the 2 of us coming collectively, we’re mainly ensuring that the member has a really easy supply of cost.”

Driscoll added that she hopes to in the end assist “lasting dietary change” for members.

The food-as-medicine motion is steadily rising, with a number of corporations within the house. This consists of Season Well being, which affords personalised recipes, pre-made meals, grocery assist, diet training and one-on-one conferences with a dietitian. FarmboxRx additionally affords diet companies by way of delivered produce containers, cooking kits and pantry gadgets.

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