Chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease cause many health problems and high medical costs in the U.S. Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT), which is given by registered dietitians (RDs), is known to help manage these diseases. MNT offers personalized nutrition advice and often needs regular follow-up to keep improving health. But it can be hard for many patients to visit dietitians in person, especially those living in rural or poor urban areas.
The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has formed the Virtual FoodCare Coalition through its advocacy group ATA Action. This group includes hospitals, tech companies, nutrition specialists, and policy advocates such as Albertsons® Companies, TeleDoc Health, Foodsmart, Circle Medical, and Nourish. Their goal is to make nutrition counseling and better food access a regular part of healthcare that can be offered virtually.
Kyle Zebley, Executive Director of ATA Action, said that by 2030, patients might get “food prescriptions” alongside medicine when they leave the doctor’s office. This shows that food is becoming a key part of how doctors treat patients.
Many patients face food insecurity, limited access to fresh food, and money problems that stop them from following medical advice. Virtual FoodCare helps by connecting patients to meals made for their health needs and to programs like SNAP and WIC. It also offers help through apps to buy food in real time. These services are very important for low-income and Medicaid patients, where most have at least one chronic disease.
Studies show that virtual nutrition counseling combined with remote health monitoring helps patients improve. Hospitals like Mayo Clinic, OSF HealthCare, Sanford Health, and Intermountain Health have seen better blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart rate in patients using these services. Sanford Health, for example, uses digital and AI tools to better care for rural patients even where healthcare resources are low.
Virtual FoodCare also helps doctors, dietitians, and social workers work together remotely. They can track patient progress and change nutrition plans quickly. When nutrition information is added to Electronic Health Records (EHRs), it makes work smoother and helps doctors communicate better.
A big problem for Virtual FoodCare is that policies do not always pay well for virtual nutrition counseling, especially in Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare usually pays less for virtual visits than for in-person ones. This makes some providers hesitate to offer more virtual nutrition services.
The Virtual FoodCare Coalition supports the Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) Act. This law would make Medicare pay more for tele-nutrition services. It would help patients with diseases like prediabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure get easier access to care. The coalition also wants virtual and in-person care to be paid equally. They support tools like continuous glucose monitors that work remotely.
Another goal is to make it easier for dietitians to work across state lines. Right now, licensing rules can stop dietitians from giving virtual care in other states. People are working to fix this. They also want more funding for food programs tailored to health needs. These changes would make foodcare fairer across the country.
By pushing for these policies, Virtual FoodCare supporters want to include nutrition in value-based care models. This could lower healthcare costs over time and help prevent diseases.
Foodsmart is a well-known platform in virtual foodcare. It offers tele-nutrition services to over 2.2 million members. These include people with employer health plans, Medicaid, and Medicare Advantage. Their dietitians help patients change what they eat using personalized Medical Nutrition Therapy.
At Foodsmart, dietitians work on real challenges like food insecurity and cost. These are important for nutrition therapy to work well. Dietitians get paid for having licenses in many states. This helps them offer care in more places through telehealth. Marissa Dankosky, a Foodsmart dietitian, says it is practical and rewarding to help people eat better and improve health.
Foodsmart shows how adding nutrition to telehealth matches clinical goals and addresses social factors affecting health. They also work with community projects like Dion’s Chicago Dream. This work shows how virtual foodcare can support both health and social fairness in food systems.
Technology helps make Virtual FoodCare work on a large scale. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation improve how work is done, increase accuracy, and keep patients engaged.
Many health organizations already use AI for phone automation to remind patients about appointments, help with scheduling, and answer questions 24/7. Studies show no-shows drop by up to 70%, like in an Ohio radiology department, when automated reminders are used. AI also helps reduce staff burnout by handling routine tasks. This lets staff focus on more important work.
In Virtual FoodCare, AI assists providers by looking at health data from devices that track blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, and diet. This helps make nutrition plans that fit each patient and spots health risks early for fast action.
Sanford Health’s Acute Hospital Care at Home program shows how AI works with digital tools. Their system manages more patients and improves care even in remote areas with few resources. AI automates notes, schedules nutrition counseling, and sends reminders, cutting down on work for doctors and dietitians.
These AI tools use secure systems that follow rules to keep patient data private. Adding nutrition info to EHRs makes care smoother. Together, this makes Virtual FoodCare a useful and workable part of telehealth today.
Adding foodcare fits with healthcare trends like value-based buying and patient-centered care. Health organizations using Virtual FoodCare can better serve patients and get ready for changing laws.
Healthcare leaders can solve these problems by partnering with groups like the Virtual FoodCare Coalition and choosing vendors experienced in digital nutrition care.
Telehealth continues to grow toward more personalized, predictive, and connected care. The mix of AI, remote monitoring, and virtual nutrition makes Virtual FoodCare key to managing chronic diseases and improving health for many people.
More interest is rising in treating health with food where doctors give food prescriptions and watch diets alongside medicines. Using digital tools and nutrition help, health systems can plan care that covers many parts of patient health.
As telehealth laws improve — through programs like the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and equal payment rules — Virtual FoodCare will likely grow a lot. This will give more people access to nutrition experts, better data-driven care, and fairer health results.
Medical administrators and IT managers who accept Virtual FoodCare should get ready to add nutrition services smoothly into telehealth work. This change offers a real way to help patients get healthier and make practices work better in the changing U.S. healthcare system.
In summary, Virtual FoodCare is becoming an important part of telehealth. By combining nutrition counseling, food access, and new tech tools powered by AI, these programs offer new ways to manage long-term diseases and help patients stay well. The American Telemedicine Association’s Virtual Foodcare Coalition, Foodsmart, and leading health systems are helping this change. They support the needed policies and payment plans so nutrition can join medicine as a normal part of healthcare today.
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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