• Daniel M Walker, Matthew J DePuccio, Jennifer L Hefner, Jennifer A Garner, Joshua J Joseph, Amy Headings, and Aaron Clark.
• From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (DMW, AC); The Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (DMW, MJD); Department of Health Services Management and Policy, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (JLH); School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Medicine and The John Glenn College of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (JAG); Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (JJJ); Mid-Ohio Food Collective, Grove City, OH (AH). Daniel.Walker@osumc.edu.
• J Am Board Fam Med. 2021 Nov 1; 34 (6): 1174-1182.

IntroductionThere is limited evidence describing utilization of clinic-based food referral programs intended to support healthy eating for food-insecure patients. To address this gap, this study aims to describe the utilization of the Mid-Ohio Farmacy (MOF). MOF is a partnership between a regional foodbank and local health care providers, including an academic medical center (AMC), that enables referrals of patients that experience food insecurity to a network of participating food pantries.MethodsThis observational study uses data from 2 AMC family medicine clinics that offered the MOF referral from September 2019 to November 2020. Patients who screened positive for food insecurity and had an eligible chronic disease (eg, diabetes, hypertension, obesity) were referred to the MOF. We compared demographic and clinical characteristics of patients that filled their referral (ie, visitors) to those that did not (ie, non-visitors). Among visitors, we also assessed patterns of pantry utilization.ResultsIn total, 51% (164 of 322) of patients referred to the MOF visited a food pantry at least once. Visitors were more likely to be older, have diabetes, and have visited a food pantry before their referral. Patients with uncontrolled hypertension were less likely to visit a food pantry following their referral. Patients that had visited a food pantry before their referral had more visits in total and more produce-specific visits following their referral.ConclusionsOur results suggest that while the MOF can connect patients to food resources, further attention may be needed to encourage its use among patients who have not previously accessed pantries.© Copyright 2021 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

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