Keeping Patients from Going Home Hungry

Across the United States, people are living with food insecurity—a challenge that can negatively affect health outcomes. Bryan Health in Lincoln, Nebraska, developed a program to address food insecurity called Hope Against Hunger to send patients home with several days’ worth of food and connect them with ongoing local resources.

When a patient visits Bryan Medical Center, nurses complete a social needs assessment in Epic. The assessment includes questions about whether the patient has worried about having enough money to buy food in the past year. Care managers offer patients with food insecurity information about local resources and provide backpacks containing a few days’ worth of food. Reports in Epic help managers monitor the number of patients using the program so they can keep the right amount of food on hand.

Bryan Health is one of many Epic community members addressing food insecurity by providing patients with food and connecting them with community resources.

Bryan Health is using charitable contributions from Epic to expand this program.