Elevance Health hired its first food service as chief medical officer to advance its goal of addressing 47 million members’ chronic conditions while reducing costs.
Pediatrician Dr Kofi Essel, who took up the role in June, spoke with Modern Healthcare about its plans to reach individuals across all markets through various nutrition programs and his target for this position.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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What does your role as food director as chief medical officer at Elevance entail?
I will design an enterprise-wide strategy to use food solutions to address a variety of diet-related conditions. Research shows that poor nutrition is one of the leading risk factors for increased mortality and morbidity, and reduced quality of life. One in ten adults has diabetes, one in three adults has prediabetes, 60% of adults have at least one chronic disease, and nearly half of all adults have diabetes. hypertension.
Food and nutrition interventions should be part of quality interventions in the management of diet-related chronic diseases. When you consider addressing these conditions, a core component is focusing on food, nutrition, and lifestyle. Unfortunately, as healthcare providers, we are not always trained in that area.
Why is it important for a health insurer to invest in a role like this?
A lot of what we do is geared towards our members to ensure they can achieve holistic wellness. We think about the many factors that affect our members’ mental health, behavioral health, and physical health.
This role puts food and nutrition first. There are people in the industry who work with medically appropriate meals and produce prescription programs. But how do we do that effectively? Putting subject matter expertise into this role creates that opportunity.
