FOOD IS MEDICINE produced. Th e eff ect is that providers do not have adequate time to spend with the patient on nutrition. We are moving toward reimbursement based on quality of care, but we are not there yet. Th ere are three barriers to scaling food is medicine: 1. Th e services provided by those skilled in behavior change are not reimburs-able by most payors. In 2019, new CPT (reimbursement) codes were approved that made health coaching a Level 3 code. Th is means that while payors can reimburse for it, they do not have to. Th e result is the next reason these programs are diffi cult to scale: 2. Access to care providers who can assist with behavior change is limited. Th ere are never enough psychologists, psychia-trists or mental health providers within a health system. Health systems do not commit the dollars to hiring provid-ers who have these skills (because they are not reimbursed for it) so while pilot programs see positive health outcomes, there are not enough providers to run programs and scale. 3. Th e infrastructure for food is medi-cine, from a product or business model standpoint, is fl awed. Many of the food pantries or meal-delivery services work-ing with health systems rely on volunteer networks, grants or philanthropic dollars. Th e result is inconsistency in both staff -ing and healthy food. And let us not forget about the patient! Patients who suff er from social determi-nants (of health) such as education, housing arrangements or transportation issues may not be able to lug that 35-pound box of raw produce back to their home to cook—and, if they can, they may have limitations on how to prepare the meal. As brokers design these initiatives, the in-centives should be patient-centric. Brokers and employers need to be mindful of the barriers that might limit eff ective imple-mentation of our eff orts. Th ere are multiple technology solutions out there for employ-ers, health systems and payors to adopt, but not all are equal. Susan Rider is the chief operating offi cer and head of sales for Preventia Group LLC. She manages all activities within the sales department, including account management, operations, customer support and marketing. Prior to joining Preventia, for 12 years she worked at Gregory & Appel Insurance, most recently as vice president of employee benefi ts and human capital strategies. Susan chairs NAHU’s Professional Development Council and serves as the Indiana AHU’s legislative chair. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Indianapolis, where she earned a master’s degree in 2015. INDUSTRY EVENTS NOVEMBER 17-18 MDRT EDGE Virtual Event www.mdrt.org/2020edge MARCH 8-11 INTERCOMPANY LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE CONFERENCE Denver, CO www.iltciconf.org JUNE 6-9 MDRT ANNUAL MEETING New Orleans, LA www.mdrt.org DECEMBER 7-9 CONSUMER EXPERIENCE & DIGITAL HEALTH FORUM Virtual Event www.ahip.org JUNE 2-4 LIMRA MARKETING CONFERENCE Las Vegas, NV www.limra.com benefitspecialistmagazine.com | ABS 15
America's Benefit Specialist November 2020: Page 15
