Perspective: Leveraging Electronic Health Record Data Within Food Is Medicine Program Evaluation: Considerations and Potential Paths Forward
Top Things to Know
EHR (electronic health record) data access and integration is challenging. Most healthcare systems struggle to share EHR data due to privacy concerns, data security risks, and administrative burdens. Data-sharing agreements (DSAs) and Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) are complex and time-consuming, with some programs reporting over 100 emails exchanged to finalize agreements. Small healthcare organizations lack the technical expertise to extract and analyze EHR data for program evaluation.
Many Food Is Medicine (FIM) participants do not have recent or follow-up clinical visits, leading to gaps in biomarker tracking (e.g., missing HbA1c or blood pressure data). EHRs often lack records on FIM program engagement, making it difficult to correlate produce redemption with health outcomes. Standardization issues exist across different healthcare systems, making cross-site comparisons challenging.
Combining EHR data with patient-reported surveys can help address missing clinical data. Healthcare claims data (e.g., Medicaid, private insurers) may provide a more comprehensive picture of healthcare utilization trends. Investing in data infrastructure and training can help FIM programs better leverage EHR systems for evaluation.
Summary of Conclusion/Findings
The prospective study focused on Produce Prescription Programs (PRx) funded by GusNIP. The study highlights significant challenges in using EHR data for FIM program evaluation, including privacy concerns, data-sharing barriers, and incomplete clinical records. To improve evaluation efforts, FIM programs should adopt a multi-data approach, integrating EHRs, patient-reported surveys, and healthcare claims data. Policy changes are needed to streamline data-sharing agreements, increase technical support for healthcare providers, and standardize data collection practices to strengthen the evidence base for FIM interventions.