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Medically Tailored Meals Decrease Healthcare Costs, ED Visits and Inpatient Stays

Morrison Healthcare and Cleveland Clinic partnered to study the feasibility of a MTM program at a major healthcare institution by utilizing only internal investments.

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Morrison Healthcare partnered with Cleveland Clinic to study the impact and feasibility of Medically Tailored Meals (MTM) programs, which deliver tailored and personalized meals to meet the therapeutic needs of patients afflicted by diseases such as obesity, diabetes and nutritional deficiencies. Over the course of three months, 60 participants received 14 frozen meals per week. To best understand the financial viability of the program, Cleveland Clinic used only internal resources to fund the program.

  • 30
    Decrease in ED Visits during the study period
  • 12
    Average savings in healthcare costs for participants
  • 3.2
    Spent as an inpatient during the study period

Medically tailored meal programs run by hospitals promote patient satisfaction, reduce hospital visits, and decrease patient healthcare costs, especially in vulnerable populations. Providing healthy, frozen meals over an extended period is feasible and large health systems should consider implementing a MTM program to address chronic disease prevention and general health among vulnerable populations.

Monica Yepes-Rios, M.D. Medical Director, Community Health & Food As Medicine, Cleveland Clinic

Patients were overwhelmingly satisfied with the MTM program, which also can contribute to lower healthcare cost

Solutions

Morrison Healthcare associate verifies a patient meal on a tablet, with a tray featuring pasta, salad, drink, and utensils on a room-service cart.

Bringing a Medically Tailored Meals program to life can benefit patients and the hospital. The full study from Cleveland Clinic and Morrison Healthcare is available to view and download here.

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