Geisinger's Fresh Food Farmacy

A Good Idea

Description

Geisinger’s Fresh Food Farmacy provides fresh, healthy food to patients who are identified
as being food insecure and having HbA1c levels greater than 8. Patients are given a “prescription” or referral by their primary care physician to use at the Fresh Food Farmacy. Patients receive more than 20 hours of diabetes education with health coaches, food to prepare healthy and nutritious meals for their whole family, twice a day for five days, and attend a weekly diabetes self-management support group and online wellness module. Meals were not delivered.

Goal / Mission

The goal of this program is to combat high obesity rates, pre-diabetes, and diabetes by providing fresh, healthy food to those most in need.

Impact

The Fresh Food Farmacy has positively impacted the lives of nearly 600 individuals. Patients are seeing significant HBA1C improvements, are better able to manage their diabetes with fewer complications, and several participants have been able to reduce or even eliminate their diabetes medications.

Results / Accomplishments

In a pilot study (n=37), claims data showed health care costs for pilot patients dropped by 80%, from an average of $240,000 per member per year to $48,000 per member per year. Additionally, pilot patients saw a drop in their HbA1c levels, on average, by 2.1% with attendance of the Diabetes Self-Management Class compared to a 0.5-1.2% drop when using medication.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Geisinger Health System
Primary Contact
Alicia Beachy
ambeachy@geisinger.edu
https://www.geisinger.org/freshfoodfarmacy/contact...
Topics
Health / Diabetes
Health / Physical Activity
Organization(s)
Geisinger Health System
For more details
https://www.geisinger.org/freshfoodfarmacy
https://catalyst.nejm.org/prescribing-fresh-food-f...
Target Audience
Adults, Families

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A Good Idea meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
  2. The program evaluation is limited to descriptive measure(s) of success/accomplishment (i.e., program participation rates, number of services/education sessions/radio messages provided). Note: oftentimes, the program has been newly implemented and a program evaluation has not yet been conducted. Programs that have not yet been evaluated, but which show promise in improving health or quality of life, are classified as Good Ideas until an evaluation is conducted.