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FarmboxRx is putting a spin on the usual food-as-medicine programs.
The startup, founded in 2014, delivers fresh produce to people with Medicare and Medicaid coverage as a way to nudge them to get routine health checkups or other preventive tests, such as mammograms or eye exams.
That’s different from other companies that prescribe food to treat specific health conditions, FarmboxRx CEO and founder Ashley Tyrner told Endpoints News in an interview. The startup is hoping its strategy of educating people and getting them to engage in health plan benefits they already have will help it win business in an increasingly crowded space.
“There’s a lot of companies out there that are trying to do true food as medicine — things like reverse type 2 diabetes — but we’re still a very long way within healthcare for that being covered as a benefit,” Tyrner said.
Prescription food programs are having a moment. Tech companies like Instacart and Uber and grocery giants such as Kroger have jumped on the trend of prescribing food to help people stay healthy and lower medical costs. Startups in the category such as Season Health, Foodsmart and Chiyo have been raising new rounds of funding since last fall.
Tyrner said it doesn’t matter how healthy patients eat if they’re not getting other critical health services.
So FarmboxRx is trying to set itself apart by educating patients and encouraging them to engage in their care. The startup includes health literacy materials in its food boxes and runs a call center so that patients can connect with FarmboxRx staff about nutrition and benefits information.
Importantly, patients receive additional food boxes when they complete certain health tasks. Tyrner pointed to FarmboxRx’s partnership with health insurer Molina Healthcare, which the startup said resulted in 91% of participating members receiving at least one of five required vaccinations and 92% of members receiving an annual wellness exam or primary care checkup.
Health insurers benefit because FarmboxRx gets members to interact with their benefits, so plans score better on quality measures, Tyrner said. Farmbox works with about 90 health plans, she said.