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Hunger for Health: A Food Insecurity Toolkit for Providers

Date: 12/19/18

As a healthcare provider, you are a lifeline to your patients for their health. Many times, the predominant factors influencing a patient’s health are connected to a lack of available resources and supports in their homes, neighborhoods and communities. All too often, inadequate access to basic needs, like food, is a significant barrier to health.

Commonly referred to as “social determinants of health,” or SDoH, these socioeconomic factors have a direct impact on the health outcomes of your patients. In Louisiana, one of the most serious of these social determinants of health is food insecurity, defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods.”

Food insecurity is a statewide problem.

Hunger affects every parish in Louisiana. Feeding Louisiana cites the following sobering statistics:

  • One in six Louisiana households struggle to put food on the table.
  • One in four of Louisiana’s older adults are at risk of hunger.
  • One in four of Louisiana’s children are living in households that are food insecure.

Addressing food insecurity and other social determinants of health will require a collaborative approach between state health policy makers, healthcare providers, community-based organizations and health plans.

We’re here to help.

We are committed to partnering with Louisiana’s healthcare providers to combat food insecurity and improve health outcomes. To support healthcare providers in identifying and addressing food insecurity, we’ve created an easy-to-use toolkit. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Identify food insecurity.

Use the Hunger Vital Sign™, a two-question food insecurity screening tool, to identify food insecurity among your patients. It’s an objective way to find out if your patients are concerned about food and food access.

Step 2: Direct your patient to the right resource.

If your patients indicate that food security is a problem in their home, you can use one of our downloadable PDFs to help direct them to a local resource where they can find help. Each PDF is specific to certain parishes. To download the PDF specific to your area, please click the appropriate link below:

These PDFs are also available in tear pads that can be kept in your waiting room and exam rooms where patients can see them. To order tear pads for your practice, contact your dedicated Provider Consultant or call Provider Services at 1-866-595-8133.

Step Three: Document and follow-up.

Once you have determined that your patient is experiencing food insecurity, add the hunger-specific Z code to their claim.

Z59.4 Lack of adequate food and safe drinking water

Including this code alerts us that your patient – our member - would benefit from targeted outreach by our team of clinical social workers and certified community health coaches. Please encourage your patients to take advantage of these resources. Be sure to follow up with your patient to determine if referrals to food security supports have been successful.

Ready to get started?

Click here to download a helpful guide (PDF) to support your efforts to address food insecurity among your patients. This guide includes the three steps shared above as well as information about the Hunger Vital Sign™ screening tool and the tear pads to connect your patients to local resources. (Remember, you can also find this guide and the self-referral forms in the Provider Resources section of our website!)

Want to learn more about what we’ve been doing to help fight food insecurity in Louisiana? Check out the links below: