Medically tailored nutrition and the missing link

by Sifter
,
Judy Seybold
,
MS, RDN, LD, CLC
October 28, 2024
October 28, 2024
The potential is enormous: medically tailored meals (MTMs), if fully implemented for all eligible Americans, would result in 1.6 million fewer hospitalizations, saving insurers some $13.6 billion per year. Over the next decade, costs could be reduced by $185 billion with nearly 18.3 million hospitalizations averted.
Sifter is the Food as Medicine Platform.

So what’s the hang-up? MTMs are only covered by healthcare payers for a limited time. When coverage ends, high-risk patients in crucial need of customized nutrition are left on their own. The missing link is a long-term solution to keep people on a personalized, prescriptive eating program that helps them manage their health issues.

Sifter's Food as Medicine platform provides the essential link that makes it possible to seamlessly transition people from short-term MTMs to long-term medically tailored groceries (MTGs). Our technology identifies grocery food eligibility for chronic health conditions, including diabetes and heart disease, and allows further personalization for food allergies, cultural preferences, and even ingredient likes and dislikes.

Using Sifter's platform, healthcare providers and payers can implement medically tailored nutrition programs that are flexible, scalable, cost-effective, and sustainable. For example:

➤ Registered dietitians can generate an MTG list that shows patients which grocery foods are right for their specific health needs — and align with their cultural or religious identity and taste preferences. Thanks to our vast nationwide retailer network, Sifter technology will further identify whether those MTGs are available at the patient's local grocery store.

➤ Proper nutrition can be encouraged through a produce prescription or a restricted-spend food benefit card. Eligible foods in these programs are defined by Sifter's approved product lists (APLs), targeted grocery lists in support of specific health conditions like diabetes, kidney disease, and heart disease. Unlike many food benefit programs that restrict spending to fresh produce, our best-in-class APLs identify eligible grocery products across all food categories... frozen, canned, dried, and fresh. This gives benefit recipients access to a wider variety of eligible groceries that are affordable, less wasteful, typically shelf-stable, and more convenient to use.

➤ Insurance providers can offer a digital marketplace so members can easily shop for medically tailored groceries from the comfort of their home. This online storefront connects people to grocery foods that support a specific health condition.

Sifter's tech-enabled solutions can help people eat the right foods for a lifetime.

Learn more about using Sifter technology to extend the health benefits of MTMs ⟶

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