Grocery delivery company Instacart has launched Instacart Health to allow healthcare providers to order food and medical supplies for patients as part of their prescribed meal plans or post-hospital discharges.
As part of the initiative, Instacart is partnering with digital health company Good Measures and WellCare of Kentucky to offer the prescription food delivery service to its Medicaid members, who will also be connected with a Good Measures dietitian.
"At Instacart, we're building the technologies that can help many organizations — from healthcare providers, insurers, nonprofits, employers and health experts — give more people access to fresh, nutritious foods with dignity, speed and convenience," CEO Fidji Simo said in a Sept. 28 company news release.
Other organizations using the Care Carts program include Medically Home, an at-home care company that has received investments from a number of health systems, and nutrition management platform NourishedRx in partnership with several health plans.
As part of Instacart Health, the company is also starting Fresh Funds, a program that allows organizations — such as insurers and nonprofits — to give people funds to buy nutritious foods, with limits that can be set to certain categories, such as produce.
Instacart launched Instacart Health in coordination with the Sept. 28 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, in which Ms. Simo participated.