Food access support technology (FAST): A centralized city-wide platform for rapid response to food insecurity

BACKGROUND: Food access for patients remains a critical need for health systems to address given varying resource availability and inefficient coordination among health and food services. AIM: Develop and evaluate the Food Access Support Technology (FAST), a centralized digital platform for food access that pairs health systems with food and delivery community-based organizations (CBOs). SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Two health systems, 12 food partners, and 2 delivery partners in Philadelphia, PA. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Using FAST, referrers can post requests for food delivery on recipients' behalf, which are reviewed and claimed by eligible CBOs that can prepare food boxes for delivery to people's homes. PROGRAM EVALUATION: Between March 2021 and July 2022, FAST received 364 requests, representing 207 food insecure households in 51 postal codes. The platform facilitated the completion of 258 (70.9%) requests, with a median completion time of 5 (IQR 0-7) days and a median of only 1.5 days (IQR 0-5) for requests marked "urgent." Qualitative interviews with FAST end-users endorsed the usability of the FAST platform and its effectiveness in facilitating resource-sharing between partners. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that centralized platforms can address household food insecurity by (1) streamlining partnerships between health systems and CBOs for food delivery and (2) facilitating the real-time coordination of resources among CBOs.