Bridging healthcare and nutrition: DispatchHealth and Instacart partner to support patients at home

Getting essentials delivered – including nutritious food – is key to ensuring patients can manage and maintain their health. With more than 1,400 retail banner partners, spanning more than 80,000 stores across North America, Instacart is uniquely positioned to help health organizations reach and serve patients by delivering essential items directly to their doors.

Today, we’re proud to announce that we’ve partnered with DispatchHealth to help patients access the nutritious food and essential items they need to support their health, all from the comfort of their home. DispatchHealth is known for providing comprehensive in-home medical care that supports patients’ complete health needs, from everyday health issues to post-hospital recovery support and complex care. By working together, DispatchHealth’s providers can now prescribe nutritional interventions as easily as they do traditional medications. 

Using Instacart Health technology, DispatchHealth providers can allocate category-specific digital food stipends to patients using Instacart Health Fresh Funds or send food directly to patients' doorsteps with Care Carts. Using our educational tools, DispatchHealth can offer patients recommended shopping lists through customized Virtual Storefront. Through the program, DispatchHealth is offering patients actionable nutrition education and inspiration, further streamlining the process for patients and helping them take an active role in their health through food. 

Instacart Health allows health organizations of all sizes to build and scale nutrition access and food as medicine programs, leveraging the power of our platform and retail partnerships. Instacart also accepts diverse payment options, including FSA and HSA cards, eligible Medicare Advantage health payment cards like OTC Network, SNAP benefits and Fresh Funds, ensuring patients can shop for groceries and OTC essentials using any benefits available to them. 

Nutrition access is fundamental to maintaining and improving health, and leveraging Instacart’s technology and reach, we’re able to help partners across the health ecosystem ensure their patients can access the essentials they need at home, from the local retailers they trust.