[June 12, 2018] |
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Health Partners Plans to Share Groundbreaking Food is Medicine Partnership at Tulane University Culinary Medicine Conference
As food is medicine programs continue to gain traction across the
country, they are also earning credibility at medical schools, some of
which are beginning to explore the benefits of medically tailored meals
through culinary coursework. As one of the nation's pioneers in the food
is medicine movement, Health Partners Plans (HPP) is proud to share
how it launched a program in this emerging field at the "Health Meets
Food: The Culinary Medicine Conference," hosted by Tulane University's
School of Medicine. At the event, held June 14-17 in New Orleans, HPP,
represented by President and CEO William S. George, and its food is
medicine partner, the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition
Alliance (MANNA), will share how the organizations created the
first-of-its-kind partnership in Pennsylvania. The nation's most
respected and innovative medical, nutrition and culinary experts will be
in attendance to examine the nexus between nutrition and good health.
Mr. George will discuss the results of the Pennsylvania-based managed
care organization's groundbreaking partnership with MANNA, a nonprofit
organization that designs, prepares and delivers nutritious, medically
appropriate meals to people battling life-threatening illnesses. HPP
partnered with MANNA, the first agency to publish peer-reviewed research
on the impact of medically tailored meals on health care costs, to
integrate its evidence-based food is medicine model into HPP's
holistic care management approach. The partnership provides MANNA's
medically tailored meals to HPP's most chronically ill Medicaid and
Medicare members who receive three meals a day, seven days a week for
several cycles - at no cost to them. HPP was the first and only health
plan to support this endeavor in Pennsylvania at the time and among one
of the few managed care organizations in the nation to implement it on a
large scale.
"Food insecurity remains a substantial barrier to health care for far
too many people," said Mr. George. "We are proud to be a national leader
in the battle against food insecurity and other social determinants for
the most vulnerable health care recipients. And we're honored to share
our experience about this successful partnership, which resulted in
improved health outcomes and lower health care costs."
Mr. George will be joined by MANNA CEO Sue Daugherty, who will discuss
the benefits of therapeutic nutrition and MANNA's history of providing
nourishing meals to those with serious illnesses.
"Research shows the medical benefits of therapeutic nutrition," said Ms.
Daugherty. "nd our meals, with modifications for 11 different diets,
bring nourishment, life, health and hope to those in need."
Since the partnership's inception in 2015, more than 560,000 MANNA meals
have been delivered to more than 2,100 HPP members suffering from
various illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, malnutrition and
kidney failure. The findings, for the population that ended services at
least six months ago, show lower HbA1c scores for 26 percent of diabetic
members and decreased utilization and costs for inpatient admissions and
emergency room visits. Results also show an overall medical cost
reduction of 19 percent on a per member per month basis.
To learn more about this food is medicine model that is
alleviating chronic diseases and lowering health care costs, read the published
call to action paper.
About Health Partners Plans
Health Partners Plans, an innovative not-for-profit managed care
organization, is the only Medicaid plan in Pennsylvania and is among
just 11 Medicaid plans nationwide with an accreditation status of
Excellent as of September 26, 2017. This is the highest status bestowed
by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Health Partners Plans
serves more than 281,000 members in Southeastern Pennsylvania and the
Lehigh/Capital region. It provides a broad range of health coverage
options through Health Partners Medicare, Health Partners (Medicaid) and
KidzPartners (Children's Health Insurance Program) plans. Founded more
than 30 years ago, Health Partners Plans is one of the few
hospital-owned health plans in the country. Learn more about how Health
Partners Plans is doing it right at HealthPartnersPlans.com,
twitter.com/HPPlans
and facebook.com/healthpartnersplans.
About MANNA
Founded in 1990 as a grassroots response to the AIDS crisis, in 2006
MANNA expanded eligibility criteria to include anyone battling a severe
illness where diet would play a significant role in healing, and began
offering comprehensive nutrition to each client in 2008. Over the years,
MANNA has embraced innovation and evolved into a nationally recognized,
evidence-based model that improves health outcomes for people with any
serious illness while also reducing the cost of care. The MANNA Model
consists of 21 medically tailored meals per week coupled with nutrition
counseling provided by a registered dietitian and is an effective health
intervention grounded in the latest nutrition science. In 2013, MANNA
published the first peer-reviewed research documenting the impact of
medical nutrition therapy and home-delivered medically tailored meals as
part of medical treatment. Learn more about MANNA's innovated approach
to nutrition at mannapa.org,
twitter.com/MANNANourishes,
and facebook.com/mannapa.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180612006307/en/
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