Produce Connect at PrimaryOne Health®

As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” PrimaryOne Health (P1H), in partnership with Mid-Ohio Foodbank, did just that in a produce prescription initiative called Produce Connect. Produce Connect allows PrimaryOne Health to screen patients for diabetes, weight loss, and other health factors as well as food insecurity. In order to address food access as a social determinant of health, patients are connected to healthy food options through Mid-Ohio Foodbank’s Partner Agency pantries. These pantries are considered “Choice Pantries” as patients are able to choose culturally appropriate foods in quantities that fit their households. Patients were tracked through the Foodbank’s proprietary software, PantryTrak, to record the number of visits and demographic information on the household per Feeding America and state regulated standards. Identified patients were given a key card, very similar to a Kroger Plus or Giant Eagle Rewards card that, on one side scanned their information into the PantryTrak system, but on the reverse, allow them discounts via P1H’s 340B program, as these patients often overlap.

First initiated in 2011, with food boxes being picked up onsite, this program began to grow with grant funds from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Starting at one health center site and partnering with three pantries in 2015, has now grown to be offered at all ten of P1H’s health centers with a list of 12 pantry locations. With approximately 40% of P1H patients screening as food insecure, nearly 10,000 unique patients have come through the program with a fill rate of 41%. Diabetic patients tended to visit either less than twice in one year or went to the pantry on average of 13+ times a year. These patients saw a more than 1% decrease in their A1c numbers. Weight loss patients saw decreases in weight coinciding with increased pantry visits, 0-2 visits saw .2 pounds lost, 3-12 visits saw 5.8 pounds lost, and 12 or more visits saw 11 pounds lost.

This work clearly shows that when our patients know better, AND have access to services, they do better. In thinking of patients as an iceberg, what is treated is what is seen above the water, but what lies beneath, are the conditions in the environments in which they are born, live, work, play, and worship that affect their health, functioning, quality of life and risks, which account for over 80% of overall health outcomes. PrimaryOne Health in partnership with Mid-Ohio Foodbank is doing a small part to help patients get the services that they need to lead holistically healthy lives.

Post submitted by:
Yolanda Owens | Associate Director of Marketing & Development
PrimaryOne Health