Instacart provides digital stipends in health plan partnership
Instacart is partnering with a major health insurance provider to help post-operative and post-partum patients obtain groceries and other essentials.
The grocery technology company is collaborating with Mount Sinai Solutions, a division of Mount Sinai Health System serving employers and unions, to provide Instacart Health Fresh Funds grocery stipends as a benefit for post-operative and post-partum patients insured by a health plan sponsored by a Mount Sinai Solutions employer or union customer.
The new program is designed to help ensure patients have access to fresh groceries, pantry staples and household essentials following a major life event, such as a joint replacement, birth or bariatric surgery. Instacart is participating via its Instacart Health initiative designed to promote access to healthy grocery and produce items,
Through the partnership, patients within the Mount Sinai Solutions network will receive $110 in Fresh Funds for the episode of care to pay for delivery of fresh groceries, pantry staples, and household and baby essentials following specialized care and surgery at Mount Sinai facilities in New York City, and extended partners in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The partnership also features a tailored Mount Sinai virtual storefront, allowing for shopping and delivery of provider-recommended goods from local, regional and national retailers via Instacart.
"Through Instacart Health, we're using our reach and technology to create impactful access programs with leading providers and health plans that help solve real patient challenges," said Sarah Mastrorocco, VP and GM of Instacart Health. "Our platform offers patients the dignity of choice to use their health benefits to purchase groceries that meet their unique tastes, needs and budgets. We're proud to announce our new partnership with Mount Sinai Solutions to expand patient access to the day-to-day essentials they need on their road to recovery."
"Mount Sinai Solutions and our Centers of Excellence are designed to be hyper-focused on a patient's end-to-end care journey to improve outcomes while driving down costs associated with re-admittance or ER visits," said Lauren Lisher, senior VP of specialty care and partnerships at Mount Sinai Solutions. "We are pleased to partner with Instacart to offer a robust grocery delivery solution that provides nourishing foods and essentials needed for a smooth recovery after hospital discharge."
Instacart builds on health offering with technology, ad solutions
Instacart Health will have Instacart grocery benefits offered through Medicare Advantage plans from Alignment Health starting in 2024. Other steps Instacart has taken to expand the Instacart Health program in 2023 include rolling out new technologies for health care providers, and introducing new advertising capabilities for produce brands
In collaboration with the White House, Instacart released the Instacart Health product suite for health care providers. Through Instacart Health, the company is providing tools to build virtual food pharmacies and deliver nutrition advice to patients.
Instacart also introduced a new online advertising capability that enables produce brands, farms and agricultural organizations to advertise weighted items on Instacart. This includes fresh foods that are typically found in the produce aisle, like carrots, grapes, onions, oranges, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.
The company developed algorithms to map these items back to brands and advertising partners. The ad capability is available for all random weight foods, including fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, cheeses, nuts and deli items.
Packaged produce advertisers can leverage the full Instacart advertising platform including sponsored product, display, shoppable video, promotions and impulse ads. Instacart is currently working with produce brands and agriculture boards during the pilot stages of random weight advertising, with general availability rolling out over the coming weeks.