Mid-Ohio Farmacy is a program through the Mid-Ohio Food Collective that connects patients with healthy foods through partnerships with local healthcare providers and insurers. This initiative aims to improve health through improved access to healthy foods. 

The first data point is the number of Franklin County residents enrolled in the MOFC Farmacy program through December 31, 2023. As MOFC has reported the number of Farmacy referrals, the total number of Franklin county residents enrolled has steadily increased.

In December 2024, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) published a report on Phase 1 of the Mid-Ohio Farmacy process evaluation. According to the executive summary, the purpose of the Phase 1 process evaluation is to describe how Farmacy is currently being implemented, identify critical components of the model that are key for replication, and identify opportunities to strengthen implementation of the model.

HPIO analyzed information from patient interviews with 20 Farmacy enrollees, healthcare provider (HCP) surveys with 41 HCP responses from 7 different health systems, administrative data from PantryTrak data system and HCPs, and meaning-making discussion with pantry representatives and HCPs.

HPIO found several strengths within the Farmacy program. Implementation strengths include strong collaboration, meaningful reach, serving populations at highest risk of food insecurity, and increased frequency of pantry visits. From the patients’ perspectives, almost all participants reported accurate knowledge of healthy foods but expressed that healthy foods are more expensive. In addition, patients reported that food as medicine makes sense, positive pantry experiences motivate them to return, and Farmacy and pantry visits led to increased healthy food access. From the HCP perspective, the screening, referral, and enrollment process is smooth and data sharing agreements work well.

Below are areas of improvement highlighted from Phase 1 of the process evaluation:

• Disconnected descriptive data (e.g., PantryTrak does not include race, ethnicity, language, or Medicaid status data)
• Limited rural reach
• Scope of unmet need
• Unclear pantry visit data
• Unclear information about the program and pantries
• Negative pantry experiences deter use and convey stigma
• Lack of followup
• Data integration challenges

Recommendations include:

1. Ensure successful replication in rural areas.
2. Increase patient and community awareness of the program.
3. Improve training for HCP staff and pantry staff/volunteers.
4. Increase enrollment in Farmacy.
5. Increase patient understanding of how Farmacy works through high-touch, low-tech approaches.
6. Leverage technology to streamline the enrollment process.
7. Increase pantry use by improving the pantry visit experience.
8. Ensure all pantry staff and volunteers are well-informed about Farmacy.
9. Empower patients to use information about healthy meal planning and cooking.
10. Develop a scalable process for HCPs to view patient-level pantry use data and follow up with patients about pantry use and nutrition.
11. Leverage data to identify opportunities to increase pantry use among specific groups.
12. Explore ways to increase the accuracy of pantry use data.

Lead Agency: Mid-Ohio Food Collective & FCPH

FCPH Leads:

• Eva Wollerman
• Unity Johnson
• Mary Nern

Promote food service and nutrition guidelines and healthy food procurement in organizations where food is served and distributed.

Coordinate the uptake and expansion of existing produce prescription programs.