Assessing Value of Behavioral Interventions: Designing Cost-Effectiveness Analyses for Food-Is-Medicine Interventions.

Abstract

Food-is-Medicine (FIM) interventions, including medically tailored meals, medically tailored groceries, and produce prescriptions, represent a promising approach to prevent, manage, and treat diet-related diseases. As the evidence base for FIM interventions expands through large-scale randomized trials, standardized value assessment frameworks will be essential to inform coverage and reimbursement decisions. Using FIM interventions as examples, this article provides guidance on economic evaluation methods, particularly cost-effectiveness analysis. We further discuss emerging methodological approaches in cost-effectiveness analysis for capturing broader nonhealth impacts of FIM interventions, such as productivity, spillover effects on others, and health equity. We offer methodological and reporting recommendations to improve comparability across economic evaluations of FIM interventions. Finally, we examine coverage challenges in the United States health system to underscore the importance of collaboration among providers, patients, researchers, and policymakers to generate rigorous, decision-relevant evidence on the value of FIM interventions.