Instacart becomes a more vigorous health sector operator

Grocery shopping and delivery service provider Instacart is broadening its activities in the health segment. The San Francisco-based operator is supporting the expansion of digital health company Good Measures’ Good Food Prescription program.

The program generates shopping lists for participants in accordance with the meal plans that Good Measures creates based on an individual’s health profile and food preferences. Instacart fulfills and delivers the items on the list using its Care Carts technology, which the operator says make it easier for healthcare providers and caregivers to order groceries on behalf of someone else.

“We’re thrilled to help power Good Measures’ Good Food Prescription program with Care Carts,” Sarah Mastrorocco, Instacart vice president of health, said in a statement. “We care deeply about offering healthcare providers and their patients new tools to promote health, and we’re excited to help Good Measures scale their programming, reach more people and make it easier for patients to get medically-tailored groceries.”

WellCare of Kentucky, which sought to improve blood pressure within its Medicaid population and support a broader health equity strategy, is the first Good Food Prescription program user. Individuals receive personalized, virtual, one-on-one registered dietitian coaching to reinforce long-term behavior change. Instacart delivers meal plan ingredients directly to participants to mitigate such barriers as food insecurity and lack of access to healthy options, Good Measures stated.

“This program will be a powerful tool for our members,” Dr. Chirag Patel, WellCare chief medical officer, said in a statement. “It will eliminate many of the barriers to accessing healthy food, and the guidance provided by Good Measures will make it easier for our members to incorporate healthy eating into their daily lives.”

Good Measures is rolling out the program to other Medicaid, Medicare, commercial health plans, and employer groups in early 2023. “Diet-related disease is the number one cause of death in the United States with a price tag of $1.7 trillion in direct medical expenditures and indirect costs,” Caroline Carney, Good Measures chief customer officer, said in a statement.

“This is a tragedy of epidemic proportions. By choosing our Good Food Prescription program, health plans such as WellCare of Kentucky are showing their commitment to food as medicine as a way to prevent disease, slow disease progression, and improve health equity,” she added.

The partnership with Instacart is part of a plan to address the triple threat of diet-related diseases, lack of food access and food insecurity, Carney noted. “We developed a long-term behavior change solution through personalization, data-driven insights, and partnerships,” she stated. “Our digital health approach taps into the power of our personalized technology to bridge the gap between the food and healthcare industries.”

Instacart’s Care Carts product became available in September and supports such functions as enabling healthcare providers to deliver groceries and medical supplies to patients following post-hospital discharge and for caregivers who want to send groceries to a friend or family member from afar. In addition to Good Measures, organizations using Care Cart include digital nutrition services providers Season Health and Foodsmart, and food solutions and care management platform NourishedRx.