Digital nutrition company Culina Health announced a new partnership on Tuesday that seeks to expand access to insurance-covered nutrition care.
The New Jersey-based startup is joining forces with Adventist HealthCare, a health system with more than 50 care locations across the Washington, D.C. metro area. Culina Health is becoming part of the Adventist HealthCare Physician Alliance, which is a clinically integrated network of more than 2,400 providers.
Under this partnership, alliance members and their patients will have direct access to Culina Health’s dietitians, who provide patients with virtual, personalized nutrition counseling.
Many of the startup’s registered dietitians are trained to deliver specialized counseling, such as nutrition services for diabetes, menopause, sustainable weight loss and cancer nutrition.
“Good nutrition is key to managing chronic conditions and promotes better overall health. We want our member providers and patients to have access to this integral component to better health and well-being. The physicians and other providers of the clinically integrated network are excited to have Culina Health as members of the Physician Alliance,” Mary Kim, vice president of population health at Adventist HealthCare, said in a statement.
Physicians in Adventist’s alliance can refer directly to Culina Health dietitians within the EHR.
This makes it easier for patients to get nutrition care in a timely manner, noted Culina Health CEO Vanessa Rissetto.
“For patients, who are onboarded into care within 24 hours, this means seamless connection to a personal dietitian within a week with no waitlist, and includes guidance on insurance coverage, quick and easy sign-up, and virtual care from the comfort of their home in-between regular healthcare visits,” Rissetto explained.
Just 0.02% of Americans have worked with a dietitian, mainly due to accessibility issues, she pointed out.
She noted that many patients don’t think that nutrition counseling is something they can afford, so they have never even considered it.
“Opening the possibility of working 1:1 with a registered dietitian empowers patients to make everyday changes to live a healthier life,” Rissetto declared.
A partnership with a large clinical network helps Culina Health in its mission to make people aware that nutrition counseling can be available for them at no or little cost via their health plan, Rissetto said.
“Partnering with health systems is a big part of this. We already support many of the practices within the clinically integrated network, so by extending our care within Adventist HealthCare’s Physician Alliance members, we have the opportunity to broaden awareness and availability of our services to all 2,400+ providers in the alliance. We’re furthering Culina Health’s mission of making expert nutrition care available to everyone,” she stated.
To measure the success of this partnership, Culina Health will track metrics like weight loss, A1c, cholesterol and systolic blood pressure reduction, Rissetto noted.
For its health system partner, cost savings by way of reduced complications, shortened hospital stays and decreased readmission rates will be important metrics, she added.
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