Partner Resources

Feed to Heal: Leveraging Technology for Food Insecurity Referrals in Health Care

Resource Content

Case Study

Released March 2023 by NEJM Catalyst. NEJM subscribers may view the full case study on their website. For non-subscribers, if you’d like a full-text copy of the article, please contact: info@projectbread.org

Summary

As the Covid-19 pandemic has strained the existing food security network, health care systems have faced increasing pressure to screen and refer patients experiencing food insecurity. To be effective, referral efforts must address the limitations of both providers and community-based food resources. Providers often find their referral efforts impeded by insufficient funding, limited personnel, and insufficient knowledge of local community-based organizations (CBOs), while many CBOs are underfunded and have limited operational capacity to accept referrals from health care systems. Created by a primary care physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance, Feed to Heal is a nonprofit organization that leverages technology to address the unique needs of health systems and partner CBOs. The Feed to Heal platform is an automated tool that connects patients with pertinent food programming after they are flagged for food insecurity in the electronic health record. The platform is a closed-loop system that collects patient utilization data to facilitate the development of improved food security interventions. The Feed to Heal system has successfully referred more than 1,000 patients to food resources, although it has had mixed success in promoting patient utilization of the resources to which they are referred. Feed to Heal’s experience demonstrates that automated referral is a promising tool for coordinating food insecurity care between health systems and CBOs, but more research is needed to identify and address the obstacles to patient utilization of food resources.

High-level research findings

This paper is a case study evaluating the early stages of a technology solution for health care systems screening and referring patients who are experiencing food insecurity. Feed to Heal platform is an automated tool that connects patients with pertinent food programming, including Project Bread’s Hotline, after they are flagged for food insecurity in the electronic health record. The Feed to Heal system has successfully referred more than 1,000 patients to food resources, although it has had mixed success in promoting patient utilization of the resources to which they are referred. Feed to Heal’s experience demonstrates that automated referral, to programs such as Project Bread’s Hotline, is a promising tool for coordinating food insecurity care between health systems and community-based organizations. More research is needed to identify and address the obstacles to patient utilization of food resources.

Our relationship with Cambridge Health Alliance/Feed to Heal

This paper was co-authored by Khara Burns, Senior Director of SNAP Outreach Programs at Project Bread. In 2016, Project Bread launched a Hunger Screening & Referral protocol at all Cambridge Health Alliance sites, in which patients who were identified as food insecure were referred to the Hotline through an encrypted fax. Patients were screened for SNAP eligibility, assisted with an application and referred to local food resources. In 2022, Project Bread and Cambridge Health Alliance transitioned to the Feed to Heal platform, which was created by a Cambridge Health Alliance physician. Now all referrals are made electronically and Project Bread can report back on services provided to individual patients. In 2023, Project Bread and Feed to Heal expanded this service to Mass General Brigham patients who receive health care at their North Shore facilities.