Chronic conditions like obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease make up a large portion of healthcare use, illness, and death. Data from Foodsmart, a telenutrition platform serving over 2.2 million members mainly across Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, employer-sponsored, and commercial plans, shows that three out of four non-elderly Medicaid enrollees have at least one chronic condition. Of these, 32% have three or more conditions. Medicaid spending averages $10,000 per year for people with one or two chronic illnesses. For those with three or more, the cost nearly doubles to $20,000, while individuals without chronic conditions incur around $5,000.
These costs point to the need for better chronic illness management. Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT), provided by registered dietitians, has been shown to improve health and lower costs by offering personalized diet plans, helping with weight control, and improving blood glucose and blood pressure. Bringing nutrition services into telehealth makes these services more accessible and easier to scale, addressing barriers like transportation, appointment availability, and limited local options.
The American Telemedicine Association (ATA), through ATA Action, started the Virtual Foodcare Coalition on April 9, 2025. Its goal is to make nutritious food and dietary interventions core parts of healthcare delivered via telehealth. Founding members include Albertsons® Companies, Circle Medical, Foodsmart, Lifepoint Health, Teladoc Health, and others.
The coalition focuses on diet-related chronic diseases by connecting patients with evidence-based nutrition counseling and real-time food purchasing help through virtual platforms. Kyle Zebley, Executive Director of ATA Action, said the aim is to improve health outcomes while containing healthcare costs by using technology-driven nutrition interventions.
The coalition anticipates that by 2030, many patients will receive prescriptions for food alongside medications, which could lead to better chronic disease management and patient adherence.
Medical practice administrators and IT managers may find that adding nutrition to telehealth improves patient wellness and efficiency. Foodsmart’s platform shows clear results:
From an administrative angle, expanding telehealth to include virtual foodcare can help meet quality measures for chronic disease management. This could improve reimbursement options and population health.
Growth in telehealth nutrition services is largely due to advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and workflow automation. These technologies ease the workload, enhance patient outcomes, and help scale nutrition services in virtual care.
AI provides personalized nutrition recommendations by analyzing individual health data, lifestyle, and social factors to suggest optimal dietary changes. AI can combine information from devices like glucose monitors, blood pressure cuffs, and patient feedback to give clinicians actionable data.
Examples include:
Integrating nutrition into telehealth platforms and EHRs allows for better coordination of care. Automation tools can:
These improvements free clinicians and staff from tedious tasks while helping healthcare providers comply with regulations like HIPAA.
ATA’s Center of Digital Excellence (CODE), which includes leaders such as OSF HealthCare, emphasizes setting benchmarks and workflows that combine digital health with nutrition services. OSF OnCall leadership stresses the importance of dyad models, where operational and clinical leaders collaborate to scale digital health while keeping care quality high. This approach is important for managing chronic diseases on virtual platforms that include nutrition.
Digital platforms like Foodsmart provide scalable ways to deliver telenutrition for large populations. They serve millions while gathering outcome data that can improve quality at provider organizations.
Adding nutrition to telehealth fits with larger efforts by the American Telemedicine Association to make telehealth a regular part of medical care and tie virtual services to value-based models. The Virtual Foodcare Coalition works to address social and economic barriers by combining digital nutrition counseling, food access management, and remote patient monitoring.
This integration supports policy progress such as expanding Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and coverage for digital therapeutics through the ATA. The coalition advocates for electronic “foodscript” prescriptions, EHR interoperability, and interstate care delivery, all aligning with goals to make healthcare more accessible and patient-focused.
New clinical programs like Sanford Health’s CMS-approved Hospital at Home initiative also benefit. These provide rural access models that extend virtual care—including nutrition counseling—to communities that usually have limited services.
Practice administrators and owners thinking about adding or growing virtual foodcare services should keep several factors in mind:
Addressing these points can help medical practices integrate nutritional care into telehealth, improving patient results while using resources efficiently.
The ATA is dedicated to promoting telehealth as a means to provide safe, affordable, and appropriate care, enhancing the healthcare system’s ability to serve more people effectively.
The ATA provides a toolkit aimed at addressing health disparities via telehealth, including maps and calculators to assess digital infrastructure and social value.
Research is crucial for advancing knowledge and innovation, enabling the expansion of quality care through technology-enabled initiatives.
The ATA sent a letter supporting expanded remote patient monitoring access in Colorado, advocating for improved healthcare delivery.
The ATA has initiated programs and webinars focused on accelerating the adoption of digital therapeutics, emphasizing the integration of AI to enhance patient experiences.
Verifying patient identities efficiently is vital to ensure compliance with regulations like HIPAA and prevent fraud, which challenges traditional manual methods.
The ATA launched the Virtual FoodCare Coalition to integrate nutrition into healthcare, enhancing patient wellness through telehealth platforms.
The ATA aims to provide education and resources to seamlessly integrate virtual care into value-based delivery models, ensuring effective healthcare practices.
The ATA works with a diverse range of entities, including healthcare delivery systems, academic institutions, technology providers, and payers to promote telehealth.
The ATA organizes events like the ATA Insights Summit and policy conferences to address technology adoption, regulatory updates, and digital therapeutic reimbursement.
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