Coding4Food

Vision

Standard codes are used across the country to accurately track, bill, and evaluate a spectrum of Food is Medicine interventions.

Mission

The Coding4Food (C4F) project is a community-informed initiative aiming to create new Healthcare Common Procedural Coding System (HCPCS) codes to define a spectrum of Food is Medicine interventions as healthcare services, allowing for their full integration into healthcare system infrastructure.

Background

Codes are a critical component of our healthcare infrastructure system – enabling healthcare providers to accurately bill insurance providers for services and labor and track a patient’s medical journey and outcomes by recording assessments, referrals, treatments, and procedures. As healthcare innovation and policy change continue to provide new and more effective tools to prevent, treat, and reverse diet-related chronic conditions, new codes must be created to reflect these new pathways of care. Despite the recent increase in interest and attention to the integration of Food is Medicine interventions into healthcare payment and delivery systems, there remains a lack of adequate codes to document and bill for these Food is Medicine interventions. 

The Coding4Food project aims to create new HCPCS codes to integrate a spectrum of Food is Medicine interventions into the healthcare system: 

  • Medically Tailored Meals and Groceries

  • Medically Supportive Meals and Groceries

  • Pantry Stocking

  • Food Pharmacies

  • Produce Prescriptions

  • Teaching Kitchens 

  • Nutrition Supports 

These interventions will be defined in a consensus-building process with experts from across the country. The consensus-building process will be facilitated by the Gravity Project in partnership with SPUR and with guidance from the C4F Advisory Committee. Project leaders expect to submit applications for new HCPCS codes over 2025.

Phase 1 Workgroups

Medically Tailored Meals

  • Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

  • Meals on Wheels America 

  • Modify Health

  • Project Angel Food

  • MANNA

  • God’s Love We Deliver

Medically Tailored Groceries

  • Eat Ahara

  • Ceres Community Project 

  • Open Hand Atlanta

  • Food Bank Rockies

  • Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana

  • Community Care Cooperative (C3)

Produce Prescriptions

  • Indiana Department of Health

  • Common Spirit Health

  • Share Our Strength

  • Fresh Rx Oklahoma

  • Vouchers 4 Veggies

  • Mid Ohio Collective Food Bank

  • Second Harvest Central Florida

  • California Food is Medicine Coalition (CalFIMC)

  • Mom’s Meals

  • Central Texas Food Bank

  • Food for Health 

  • Greater Cleveland Food Bank

  • Federation of Virginia Food Banks

  • Capital Area Food Bank

  • Food Bank Council of Michigan

  • Attane Health

  • About Fresh

  • Suvida Health

  • Chester County Food Bank

  • Alameda County Recipe4Health

  • Reinvestment Partners

  • Adelante Mujeres

Looking to get involved in the Coding4Food project? Check out the Gravity Project's Coding4Food Project Page on Confluence and register for our Coding4Food Mailing list (below) to receive project updates. 

Timeline

Spring 2024

Form Subject Matter Expert workgroups for Phase 1 interventions

Medically Tailored Meals, Medically Tailored Groceries, and Produce Prescriptions

Fall 2024

Phase 1 Workgroups Convene

Aiming for January 2025 HCPCS Application submission. 

Fall 2024

Form Subject Matter Expert workgroups for Phase 2 interventions

Pantry Stocking/Groceries, Food Pharmacies, Teaching Kitchens, and others to be determined. 

Winter 2024/2025

Phase 2 Workgroups Convene

Aiming for July 2025 HCPCS Application submission.

Advisory Committee

  • Constantina Papoutsakis, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

  • Katie Garfield, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School

  • Sarah Downer, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)

  • Cathryn Couch, Ceres Community Project

  • Kim Madsen, Ceres Community Project

  • Jamie Heberer, Chorus Community Health Plans/Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP)

  • Kofi Essel, Elevance Health

  • Elise August, Feeding America

  • Alissa Wassung, Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC)

  • Becca Kahn, Food & Friends

  • Emma Steinberg, Pediatric Hospitalist

  • Jen Obadia, Project Bread

  • David Eisenberg, Teaching Kitchen Collaborative

  • Nikki Kmicinski, Western New York Integrated Care Collaborative, Inc.

  • Brent Ling, Wholesome Wave/National Produce Prescription Collaborative (NPPC)

Join our Email List

Learn More

  • For specific questions about the Coding4Food project, please contact Katie Ettman (kettman@fullwell.us).