Empowering
Healthcare with
Food is Medicine
Solutions
A comprehensive guide for clinicians and health system leaders to design, implement, and sustain programs for patients with type 2 diabetes.
Why This
Toolkit?
Nutrition plays a central role in managing and preventing type 2 diabetes, yet many healthcare systems lack clear guidance on how to effectively integrate food-based interventions into clinical care.
The Food is Medicine Toolkit provides actionable strategies, evidence-based program design options, and practical implementation resources to help care teams deliver Food is Medicine programs and supportive education, tailored to patient population, organizational capacity, and reimbursement landscape.
Whether you’re exploring your first pilot program or scaling an existing initiative, this toolkit offers the roadmap to make Food is Medicine a sustainable part of comprehensive diabetes care.
What’s Inside?
Section 1:
Introduction to Food is Medicine
Understand the foundations of Food is Medicine, why healthcare has a role in nutrition, established program types, and the evidence base for clinical and cost outcomes in type 2 diabetes care.
Explore Section 1 ▶
Section 2:
Designing Effective FIM Programs
Compare program models, design considerations (dose, duration, access, delivery mode), step therapy approaches, and best practices for structuring interventions based on patient needs.
Explore Section 2 ▶
Section 3:
Best Practices for Implementing
FIM Programs
Navigate vendor selection, in-house vs. outsourced models, staffing recommendations, and high-quality FIM vendor characteristics.
Explore Section 3 ▶
Section 4:
Toolkit to Integrate FIM into
the Clinical Workflow
Guidance for screening, eligibility, clinical engagement, referral, enrollment, service delivery, care coordination, and feedback integration.
Explore Section 4 ▶
Section 5:
The Value Proposition of
Food is Medicine
Align FIM programs with commercial, Medicaid, and Medicare strategies, build business cases, communicate value, and establish partnerships.
Explore Section 5 ▶
Section 6:
Learning and Evaluating
FIM Interventions
Frameworks and tools for measuring outcomes, continuous improvement, and demonstrating impact in healthcare settings.
Explore Section 6 ▶
Who Should Use This Toolkit?
Healthcare Providers &
Clinical Teams
Frontline clinicians, nurses, and care teams seeking evidence-based guidance on screening, referral, patient engagement, and delivering Food is Medicine interventions for patients with type 2 diabetes.
Health System Leaders &
Health Plan Administrators
Decision-makers and champions evaluating program feasibility, sustainability, alignment with organizational goals, reimbursement models, and value-based care strategies.
About This
Toolkit
The Food is Medicine Toolkit is developed by the Food is Medicine Institute at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, with key input from clinical and healthcare management experts at Kaiser Permanente.
This resource is designed to support health systems in the design, implementation, and evaluation of Food is Medicine programs, with a particular focus on patients with type 2 diabetes stratified by clinical and social risk factors.
By synthesizing the latest research, real-world case studies, and practical tools, this toolkit aims to bridge the gap between evidence and practice—empowering healthcare organizations to deliver nutrition interventions that improve health outcomes, reduce costs, and advance health equity.