Virtual cardiometabolic provider Vida Health launched a partnership with Instacart, a grocery technology company, last week to provide members with better access to nutritious food.
Vida Health offers metabolic care that includes nutritional guidance, anti-obesity medication prescribing and lifestyle coaching. It works with major health plans and employers, and patients gain access to a care team that includes physicians, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, specialists, mental health therapists and certified coaches.
Through the partnership with Instacart, Vida Health members will now have access to Instacart Health Fresh Funds, which are grocery stipends for items like fresh and frozen produce. Providers determine what items are eligible for purchase on Instacart’s website. After the food items are purchased with the stipend, Instacart shoppers collect the member’s items and deliver them to the member’s home.
This helps build on Vida Health’s existing services, according to Amy Mushlin, chief clinical and member service officer at Vida Health.
“Building healthier habits takes more than information; it requires thoughtful, culturally relevant guidance and access to good food. By partnering with Instacart, the guidance dietitians and coaches provide is now more immediately actionable for members to purchase groceries, making it easier for people to make impactful changes in their lives,” Mushlin said in a statement.
The partnership especially supports Vida members living in food deserts, rural communities and underserved areas. Instacart reaches 98% of households in the U.S., including 95% of low-income and low-access areas, according to the announcement.
“At its core, Instacart is a platform built for access to nutritious food, and our Health tools – like Fresh Funds – allow us to connect food and health programs at scale,” said Sarah Mastrorocco, vice president and general manager of health at Instacart, in a statement. “Through our partnership with Vida, members managing their cardiometabolic health can now receive Fresh Funds stipends to spend on Instacart to act on the expert guidance Vida’s care team provides.”
The companies plan to grow their partnership in the future. Eventually, meal plans developed by Vida’s dietitians will be shoppable through Instacart. The companies will also “explore employer subsidization of food access as part of enterprise benefit offerings, building toward a model in which personalized nutrition support and grocery access are seamlessly connected components of cardiometabolic care,” the announcement stated.
Instacart also has several other partnerships with healthcare organizations, including Northwell Health, NationsBenefits, DispatchHealth and Mount Sinai.
Photo: fcafotodigital, Getty Images
