Offered to members of health plans including commercial, Medicare and Medicaid, the Foodsmart and Instacart program combines FoodSMART telenutrition services with medically tailored groceries via Instacart. Members receive Instacart Health Fresh Funds stipends to purchase dietitian-recommended foods from their preferred local grocery store on Instacart.
Health plan members that participated in the joint program saw enhancements in nutrition and dietary habits, improved diabetes management and sustained weight loss, across thousands of member interactions over a two-year period. Of the more than 18,500 members included in this retrospective analysis who utilized the combined power of Foodsmart with Instacart, results included:
- Enhanced Diabetes Management: 52.9 percent of members with diabetes who combined telenutrition and Instacart saw a clinically significant 0.5 percent reduction in Hemoglobin A1c (a key marker of diabetes management), compared to 43.2 percent for telenutrition-only participants.
- Weight Loss that Sustains: Adding medically-tailored groceries through Instacart increased the likelihood of a member to achieve 5 percent in weight loss by nearly 50 percent. At 21 months, 47.1 percent of members living with obesity who participated in both programs achieved at least 5 percent weight loss, compared to 32.1 percent of those using only telenutrition services.
- Better Nutrition Habits: Participants combining telenutrition and grocery delivery saw an 8.6 percent improvement in nutrition scores, compared to a 3.3 percent improvement in those using telenutrition alone.
- Impactful Increase in Engagement: Members using both telenutrition and Instacart’s online grocery services nearly doubled their program engagement, compared to those using telenutrition services alone, suggesting that combining telenutrition and Instacart not only boosts engagement but may also promote better interactions with dietitians.
“Clinical outcomes from Foodsmart’s partnership with Instacart demonstrate the powerful role that medically tailored groceries and accessible delivery can play in healthcare,” said Sarah Mastrorocco, vice president and general manager of health at Instacart. “Through Foodsmart’s program, Instacart provides access to medically tailored nutritious food delivered from trusted local grocers, empowering members with the tools to make more informed choices, sustain healthy habits and improve their health over the long term.”
“The partnership between Instacart and Foodsmart is one of the largest demonstrations of how comprehensive Foodcare can equitably lower chronic disease outcomes and healthcare costs at scale across the U.S.,” said Jason Langheier, CEO and founder of Foodsmart. “Everyone in America should have easy access to a primary care dietitian, like those provided by FoodSMART telenutrition, so families have a trusted partner to set up the Foodcare environment that supports their long-term well-being and helps them navigate behavior change in a sustainable way. Instacart’s enablement of online grocery shopping and Fresh Funds subsidies reaching nearly every household in the U.S. gives every American and their dietitian the opportunity to fundamentally change their lives for the long run.”
