00:00 - The following program is sponsored in part by

00:04 - customer's bank.

00:15 - Sue daugherty chief executive officer of an organization called mana m a n n a

00:22 - a psu what do you do there.

00:25 - Theo at nine am i am also a

00:28 - registered dietitian nutritionist so started a long long time ago.

00:33 - So

00:33 - tell our viewers just what man does exactly.

00:37 - Sure so we're all about food as medicine right

00:39 - so often people get discharged from the hospital

00:42 - and they get discharged

00:44 - or medications they get insurance but we're going to go for chemo or.

00:48 - Radiation and all of these instructions are provided for them and many many times

00:53 - there's also a diet that is prescribed at discharge that

00:56 - isn't a

00:57 - that

00:57 - though you know you need to eat more fruits and

00:59 - vegetable it can be really complex diet such as

01:02 - you need to go follower for gram potassium for granted phosphorus two grams sodium

01:06 - two thousand cc fluid restricted diet right

01:09 - as a dietitian that would be really complicated

01:11 - for me to follow much less someone

01:13 - who hasn't had any.

01:15 - Education in this so

01:17 - it's a really complex problem

01:19 - an appetite efficient I've been there first hand many times when you know I'll date

01:23 - myself a little bit with my pager used to go often i was

01:26 - called to a patient's room

01:28 - and they're

01:29 - getting ready to walk out the door and someone realizes oh wait is this special diet

01:33 - i mean like contact the dietitian and

01:35 - you know the person sitting there with their coat on and the person who's going to

01:38 - take them home and that's certainly not an appropriate time to

01:42 - to go into that but what that does is we kind of see ourselves as the pharmacy for

01:46 - prescription diet so just as you would go

01:48 - to a pharmacy to

01:49 - pick up your medication magnetics

01:51 - conference medically tailored meal was to

01:54 - make sure that it needs to the needs of all different illnesses i think last year we

01:57 - touched over eighty five different illnesses

02:00 - so at no cost declines that were serving we show off and we deliberate complete

02:04 - nutrition you know three meals a day seven days a week

02:06 - we either deliver it through a temperature controlled trumpet and then we also have

02:10 - shipping

02:11 - options that we

02:12 - touch all all

02:13 - the state of Pennsylvania for shipping mode

02:16 - and so before we dig into more details about the services provided by mana

02:21 - let's explore a phrase you used just a minute ago and it appears on your website

02:25 - as a headline as well

02:26 - power of food

02:28 - as

02:28 - medicine and just tell us why that's so

02:31 - important within

02:32 - the context of this discuss Russian today.

02:35 - So it's so important because it really is treatment

02:38 - right so

02:39 - often we kind of get put into the bucket

02:41 - of food access and food insecurity which is all

02:44 - very important issues

02:46 - and often the folks that we are serving do have issues with food access but we

02:51 - that is not really our lame

02:53 - mere really in that treatment space just as i mentioned Ryan.

02:57 - Reno was the temporary complex

02:59 - i think often people

03:01 - understand diabetes but you have to follow a certain diet

03:04 - but that exists with congestive heart failure and multiple

03:07 - layers of illnesses and so

03:09 - if you're prescribed with somebody medication and then

03:12 - person is a

03:13 - you know

03:13 - having access the right nutrition in

03:16 - new setting that patient up for success so we really

03:19 - know the power of food is medicine really is you know.

03:22 - In that treatment space and one of the things that I've often referenced is

03:26 - if you get admitted to a hospital right

03:29 - they will not send you are a tray of food until that prescribed diet

03:32 - into the system so it

03:34 - is

03:34 - in healthcare it is viewed as treatment but

03:37 - there's some disconnect when people leave the hospital

03:40 - about how folks are going to get access to that

03:42 - as soon as i did research for this interview

03:45 - on your website i came across the phrase

03:47 - medically tailored

03:48 - diet

03:49 - quite a few times and i'd never heard it before so

03:51 - just talk about

03:53 - how that phrase was coined and what it means.

03:56 - Sure so

03:57 - it is it's

03:58 - complicated writing it and i'm going to back up just a little bit because even

04:02 - a term

04:03 - that the role of the dietitian

04:05 - i think that's complex right

04:07 - anyone there's no

04:08 - credentials required to take your nutrition

04:10 - nutritionist race so often people are getting

04:13 - advice and folks are saying well i'm a nutritionist a dieting she is a credential you

04:17 - know six year degree we have to continue in education

04:21 - so even when i worked in the healthcare system no i wouldn't walk into a patient's

04:24 - room and i would if i said hi i'm sue your dietitian and they kind of look at me like

04:28 - oh no but if i said hey i'm seeing a nutritionist

04:30 - people get the nutrition Israel but

04:33 - you have a lot of complexities and this thing

04:35 - with the diet right so when someone has a

04:38 - congestive heart failure diagnosis right in there swollen and

04:42 - retaining fluid well sodium is going to contribute and worse than that

04:46 - i often tell a story even

04:49 - with my mom back in two thousand and seventeen as she was very sick with a new

04:53 - diagnosis of congestive heart failure

04:56 - got this charge or if her daughter is a dietitian right work and nutrition center and

05:00 - i'm like oh i got this right i can make sure she's eating correctly and for two weeks

05:05 - we were really struggling and then finally

05:07 - the director of nutrition at mammoth and

05:09 - why is your mom now mana right and i was

05:11 - like right why is she not in on it and it was

05:14 - a game-changer night and day within a week or food stabilized

05:18 - and she was able to bring

05:20 - back veteran no shortness of breath and that's what we hear from her patients

05:23 - over and over again

05:25 - it is very stressful

05:27 - when you're often diagnosed with a new eye

05:30 - issue and you have all these things going on and then you're

05:33 - you're told you have to follow this special diet and

05:36 - often one you don't even have access to even.

05:39 - Opera vu

05:40 - and much less the complexities of wiring

05:43 - you know how much sodium how much potassium how much phosphorus right how much

05:47 - of what i can have.

05:49 - Well i'm sorry to hear about your mom's situation

05:51 - but it sounds like you were able to observe

05:54 - very real results and how soon did they come.

05:57 - Within two weeks

05:59 - and we have data so at night if we have

06:02 - division and not a club about it institute which is a research and evaluation arm

06:06 - and we have

06:07 - we have got it there has been multiple.

06:10 - Much more data out there since

06:12 - we were the first to publish

06:14 - results in two thousand and.

06:16 - Thirteen that showed the impact of receiving

06:18 - them medically to me on nutrition education

06:20 - not only the impact that it has on health.

06:23 - Outcomes right better health outcomes but the significant reduction it has on health

06:27 - care costs and so to me this is a win win intervention right people do better and

06:32 - we're saving the healthcare system significant dollars

06:35 - now you've already mentioned a few illnesses that can benefit from a medically

06:39 - tailored diet but

06:40 - go over short less slower forests in other words

06:43 - what illness has made you maintain the less there that

06:46 - and you know immediately when you go over a list you go this person

06:49 - can benefit from our sir services

06:51 - what what kind of illnesses are we talking about

06:55 - but certainly you know obviously the top five illnesses

06:57 - that we're serving are all types of cancer right people

07:01 - optimal coverage wasn't the newly diagnosed cancer

07:03 - and again even within cancer renegade how you're being treated for cancer

07:08 - there can be a whole complexity of different needs that you know

07:11 - love your breast cancer

07:12 - institute nci cancer

07:14 - and we serve people with HIV and aids

07:16 - we serve people with diabetes

07:19 - and

07:19 - heart disease is another one that again congestive heart failure

07:23 - and

07:24 - often so sometimes people come cells also post surgery

07:27 - surgery right so maybe that you're going to acute need.

07:30 - A room key they're right that's another big area that if if you have

07:34 - a woman

07:35 - that is not healing and you don't have proper nutrition.

07:38 - That was not going to heal without that

07:40 - so and

07:41 - the other area that i think is really complex

07:44 - specifically with the population that we're serving is

07:47 - often several men come to us because maybe they just received a new diagnosis

07:51 - you know breast cancer but upon intake right our intake specialists are reviewing

07:56 - their health you know background and we find out

07:59 - oh they

08:00 - may also have high blood pressure and they may also have diabetes

08:03 - so now we're getting but.

08:05 - Comorbidity

08:06 - but now that

08:06 - we have eleven different diet modifications that

08:09 - we have the ability we can layer all the diff aren't

08:12 - modifications to make sure we're treating all those

08:14 - co-morbidities not just the primary diagnosis.

08:18 - So explain how

08:20 - your patients can connect with men or in other words it

08:23 - strikes me that someone could be discharged from the hospital

08:26 - and then they have certain instructions when they go home to recover

08:29 - so who makes the connection with mana in order to

08:31 - follow through with that service that the patient might not even know about.

08:35 - Yeah so we got we get referrals from all different walk of life i wish we actually

08:40 - had caught more referrals at discharge

08:42 - but

08:43 - most often a lot of times our referrals will come from other dietitians specifically

08:47 - dialysis centers we get a lot of referrals from

08:49 - dialysis centers

08:51 - they also obviously get self referrals right so people will see our trucks

08:55 - you know out on the road or.

08:57 - You have a you know work fortunate enough to.

08:59 - Be depressed or get some attention people will sometimes self reach out to us

09:04 - i should also point out that

09:06 - one of the i think.

09:07 - Amazing guests from our program is not only do we provide

09:11 - meals for the individual and education to the individual

09:14 - but if there are children in the household under the age of eighteen or are there is

09:18 - elderly

09:19 - and

09:20 - living with the individual make sure that we provide meals for the

09:24 - household

09:25 - we learned a long long time ago that you cannot show up and deliver meals

09:29 - so a mom who's go about

09:30 - going through chemo or radiation but she has three small children in the household

09:35 - and maybe they don't have access to

09:37 - food that she wouldn't share that right and so we

09:40 - want the

09:41 - patient to get the full impact of our intervention and so we we want to make sure

09:45 - that everybody in that household is taking care of

09:47 - well let me put it this way soo other cases where doctors will say to the patient

09:52 - i know what you need i want you to connect with this organization called mana

09:55 - and they can help you.

09:57 - Yeah we definitely get doctors

09:59 - refer and we have a referral portal so referrals can come in online on

10:03 - that not a ph

10:03 - or

10:05 - but

10:06 - we we wish

10:07 - we wish we had more

10:08 - of the healthcare if you referring to last but i think more

10:11 - you know what we hear often from health healthcare systems is that

10:15 - you know.

10:17 - They're so bogged down with so many is

10:19 - we're going on and if they don't know out man and

10:22 - we are we're

10:23 - an accredited medical

10:25 - meal provider and

10:26 - that means.

10:28 - We're part of the food is medicine coalition which is

10:30 - a national association

10:32 - really the first

10:33 - in the country that to push this

10:35 - in

10:35 - this space forward

10:37 - and there's

10:38 - you know as you

10:39 - that there's a lot of you know terms and people

10:42 - saying food is medicine food as medicine and

10:44 - you can actually mean

10:46 - and so the fact that we are an accredited medically

10:48 - tailored meal provider and you can actually

10:50 - go on picnics website and see the standards that were held to

10:53 - make sure that we are providing

10:55 - exactly what we're saying we're providing cause there's

10:58 - there's other people in that space right now that

11:00 - are claiming to provide medically tailored meals

11:02 - but they're they're not really medically tailored

11:05 - so in Pennsylvania amount is the only accredited

11:07 - medically tailored meal provider and so

11:10 - it's really important that folks understand that

11:13 - if

11:13 - you need a you know.

11:16 - Restricted phosphorus diet

11:17 - that you're getting that and so are a recipe please

11:20 - go through a rigorous nutritional

11:23 - and analysis and you know the quality products we use and and so forth

11:28 - let's take a look at men as services from

11:30 - the perspective of the patient or the client.

11:34 - In other words what does a typical day look for

11:36 - them look like to them as far as the services go

11:39 - another way words

11:40 - can patients expect

11:42 - three square meals a day.

11:44 - Yes they can so

11:46 - now you get a once a week delivery right we have

11:48 - really excited cause we recently this

11:51 - year

11:51 - launched a client choice portal

11:54 - so patients will get a text

11:56 - message

11:57 - reminding them and if they don't use

11:58 - cell phones or so forth are made can call in our intake

12:01 - specialists to walk through the process with them

12:03 - but they can select raise a different

12:06 - dinner on chains that they like now there are only thing no

12:09 - ones that are appropriate for their diet right so it's not like a free for all.

12:14 - Been so negative text alert days let the choices that they want for a week

12:19 - on everything is made on

12:20 - saying

12:21 - we have a state of the art watching facility where a volunteer driven organization so

12:25 - i got a shout out our volunteers cause we couldn't do what we do without them

12:29 - but everything's made on site last show

12:31 - and then we deliver to our patients once a week so once a week they will receive

12:36 - twenty one twenty one meals breakfast lunch and dinner.

12:39 - If for some reason you know they don't want the twenty

12:41 - one meal option we do have and other options that fourteen

12:44 - or Saturday ones but

12:45 - our standard is the twenty one meals

12:47 - and is there an established meal regimen for a particular kind of sickness in other

12:52 - words to tried to pick out a sickness

12:54 - and tell me what you wouldn't feed that person.

12:58 - So certainly someone who's going through cancer

13:01 - often write their appetite is impacted

13:04 - so for those folks we we want to really do nutrient dense race so smaller fortunes

13:10 - but high

13:11 - density of nutrition rice that we can

13:13 - pack a lot of protein a lot of

13:15 - good calories into small portion so there

13:18 - there

13:18 - he's going to

13:19 - be different than someone

13:20 - grabbed a high calorie diet

13:23 - with a cancer diagnosis because of your appetite is so

13:26 - poorly.

13:27 - So

13:28 - impacted that

13:29 - often we

13:30 - know that smells can be associated with you know

13:33 - if you're not feeling while you didn't have an appetite

13:36 - you don't really want to smell something right and so we

13:39 - need when we're designing that.

13:41 - Recipes food for

13:43 - those.

13:44 - Meals we really considered that bike when you reheat

13:46 - it right but we don't want to give off a strong

13:48 - odor.

13:50 - That certainly you know with our cancer population and certainly

13:52 - people with diabetes

13:54 - carbohydrates are a big deal so

13:56 - you know we limit their carbohydrates and.

13:59 - People with raynaud's disease potassium is a big deal right so they can't have

14:02 - potatoes so it really is complex and really goes into the

14:07 - individual layers of all those different nutritional needs

14:10 - aware his men are located too and more importantly what is your service area.

14:15 - Yeah so we're located right in center city Philadelphia

14:19 - but we service all of Pennsylvania

14:21 - as i said

14:22 - around Philadelphia we have a

14:23 - temperature controlled trucks

14:25 - and we partner with fedex

14:26 - and we've touched all the counties in Pennsylvania

14:29 - so any to research initiative says honestly we've

14:31 - we've shipped our meals all across the country

14:33 - and just how busy are you kept sue in a big city like Philadelphia.

14:38 - We're busy right so we are kitchen opens up about six in the morning and

14:42 - cook anyway so

14:44 - about six at night

14:45 - and as i said we have volunteer shifts off

14:47 - that day that started at seven in the morning.

14:50 - We have individual volunteers that come in and we have

14:52 - corporate groups that come in you know we it's it's a

14:56 - it's a it's a pretty.

14:57 - Fun and happy place to be i say everyday i start my day where i

15:01 - go get my cup of tea coffee

15:03 - and

15:03 - coffee stations all around that's very important but i walk through the kitchen and

15:08 - just take time to chat with the volunteers because

15:10 - we have some volunteers honestly have not been volunteering with us for where

15:14 - we're celebrating our thirty six year.

15:17 - We started as an HIV aids organization and so have obviously evolved beyond that but

15:23 - you know you have some art war volunteers there

15:25 - yeah i can see rely on your volunteer network so

15:28 - is there anybody on staff that gets paid for their services.

15:32 - Yes we have about a staff of about fifty five individuals yeah.

15:36 - Issues

15:37 - so what are their skills what are they doing.

15:40 - Yeah so we definitely

15:42 - that's very efficient i should talk about it more but we

15:44 - definitely have a team of registered dietitians that are

15:46 - providing education race and not only are we providing the product

15:50 - or providing education so that hopefully when they achieve optimal health

15:54 - it can come off our program it and sustain that not

15:56 - and then we have

15:57 - very talented chefs

15:59 - that was mostly i

16:00 - always say at the dietitians at one side of the

16:02 - table yep it's just that the other side of the table

16:05 - and the dietitians are talking about an macro and micro nutrients and the chefs who

16:08 - are saying well if it doesn't taste good they're not going to eat it right

16:11 - so really at the end of the day they they work really hard and combine those efforts

16:15 - and i think we have a product that

16:17 - meets those nutritional needs but also tastes really well and then

16:20 - obviously we can't do what we do without money

16:23 - so we have fund raising

16:24 - at Nana.

16:26 - We have a lot of special events throughout the year and obviously write grants and

16:30 - receive funding

16:31 - and then because of that research will be

16:32 - published back in two thousand and thirteen.

16:36 - We weren't we are the first org innovation in the country

16:38 - that signed a contract with

16:41 - medicaid medicaid and an insurance provider

16:44 - that actually for the first time

16:46 - will treat a prescribed diet

16:48 - just say they will

16:50 - treat any other prescribed or

16:51 - non intervention

16:52 - so they actually reimburse us

16:54 - and so because of that we obviously have to have

16:57 - a film anglia are hipaa compliant and and so forth

17:00 - osu i'm glad you brought up fund raising the alarm

17:03 - to go cause i know some of our viewers are wondering.

17:06 - When meals are delivered to patients or clients

17:09 - what is the cost to them.

17:12 - Yeah no cost to the individuals.

17:15 - And so tell me more than about your funding network and

17:19 - how you can

17:20 - make this mission continue.

17:23 - So it's a lot of asking people for money right so obviously we have individual donors

17:28 - who have been very generous to us.

17:30 - We also have.

17:32 - A grants department so we raised

17:34 - significant funding for corporate foundation

17:37 - of partnerships we

17:39 - as i mentioned we have events all throughout the year one of our biggest events is

17:43 - something called pie in the sky which i always just think is funny because

17:46 - when i'm out and about and talking to

17:48 - people about you know

17:49 - meeting people in Israel where do you work and i'm like oh i work for this incredible

17:53 - organization nine and they always go

17:55 - oh you're the pie people which is definitely.

17:58 - Not figured as medicine and then through our insurance reimbursement on about twenty

18:04 - percent of our funding comes through

18:06 - reimbursement for our contracts with the medicaid providers.

18:10 - So do you have any data that would show how mana

18:13 - takes the edge off of

18:15 - health care costs we all know health care costs just keep rising.

18:19 - Yeah so yeah it's not it has data that has been published

18:23 - and it has shown that we can

18:25 - our research showed that

18:26 - you can save anywhere from.

18:28 - Twenty seven to thirty three per sent

18:30 - remember per month

18:32 - right which is a lot of money

18:34 - and toughs

18:35 - research just came out on a national level

18:38 - and it was projected that after if everyone who was prescribed automatically powered

18:42 - meal after the cost of the intervention

18:46 - Pennsylvania i believe ranked second and the highest savings that

18:49 - i ain't about

18:50 - plus the five thousand.

18:52 - Are patient.

18:53 - Savings after the costs of that intervention over the course of a year or so

18:58 - to me this is like

18:59 - a no brainer right people are do better

19:02 - and we save

19:03 - significant healthcare costs and

19:05 - so

19:06 - we've been doing for many many years is advocating right that when people are

19:09 - prescribed these complex diets that that should be part

19:12 - of treatment and it should be a mandated coverage benefit.

19:15 - So one more question before we get into legislation that may

19:19 - help

19:20 - mana in the future and certainly affect the

19:23 - clients and patients

19:24 - and this has to do with hard evidence out there that

19:28 - your approach to nutrition for sick people

19:30 - really works outside your personal experience

19:33 - with your mom

19:34 - what's been documented.

19:36 - Oh

19:37 - there is no if you were to go into the food is medicine coalition website there is

19:42 - research that's coming out from all across the country right that has shown.

19:46 - That support not as research right we were the first but there's been much much

19:50 - much documented evidence

19:52 - if that's your thing because i think that at the federal level will be some kind of

19:55 - this ongoing debate is like weed need more research

19:58 - and it's like well

19:59 - you know how much more research

20:00 - there's a lot of research that has been done

20:02 - certainly and diabetes certainly i was saying cancer

20:05 - so maybe there's

20:06 - more research that needs to be done you know we're we're really excited we just

20:09 - partnered with chop we're actually doing research

20:12 - with that

20:13 - pediatric cancer population which i don't think

20:16 - that's been booked

20:17 - right

20:18 - so but all the data right

20:20 - so porous

20:22 - cost savings better health outcomes and so

20:25 - and and tough i would say it has been

20:27 - a leader pretty much in

20:28 - the

20:28 - research states but it's been cited numerous times

20:31 - at many many levels all right now let's get into

20:34 - legislation that could affect the future of

20:38 - and this has to do with the pa house

20:40 - has plans to introduce a bill

20:42 - that would help pay for medically

20:44 - tailored meals

20:46 - tell us what you know about the bill.

20:48 - Yeah so certainly i buy

20:50 - my party things that weren't right we've been

20:53 - going to Harrisburg and spending lots of time.

20:56 - Talking about food

20:57 - medicine and medical

20:58 - bills and so

21:00 - often i think where

21:01 - you know the conversations get stuck is

21:04 - i think people once they see their research and they see the data.

21:08 - I think

21:08 - p people can have

21:10 - all kind of get on the same page like yes of course this this should be

21:13 - you know something that should be supported and should be paid for

21:16 - but because we're so unique right it's often people don't know

21:20 - how to do that

21:22 - and felt this would be you know

21:24 - what legislation that would

21:26 - fit and medically tailored meals right and give it a space then

21:30 - insurance companies you know

21:32 - can bill for it

21:33 - just like they would be and bill for the exact

21:35 - service right right now when they're working with us

21:38 - like

21:39 - pulling things together like home delivered

21:41 - meals right there's just nothing that really

21:43 - meets that

21:44 - that niche of what we do which is specialized medically tailored meals so we're

21:48 - really ex say that right we've met with both representative

21:51 - michalek and and Colorado sky and you know

21:54 - and they've been you know it

21:56 - represented mahal ang eventually i

21:58 - not join me but she was

22:00 - at a conference up in Boston about food as medicine

22:02 - so i know that there's a lot of interest in this space

22:05 - and i think that this could be a real big win for Pennsylvania right to be a leader

22:09 - show yeah people can prescribe these conflicts diet let's

22:12 - let's make sure this is

22:14 - a mandated

22:15 - benefit that is accessible for all

22:17 - you mentioned representatives cars are asking the hail it

22:20 - a minute ago

22:21 - i wonder if they have any personal involvement.

22:24 - In this bill or medically tailored meals

22:27 - in general.

22:29 - Yeah yeah i mean i know certainly when we've met with them they're very interested i

22:33 - know that they're co-sponsors right on this bill

22:35 - day and

22:36 - you know.

22:38 - I think

22:39 - like a champion and i you know and we get

22:42 - i think

22:43 - certainly the impact on health

22:45 - outcomes and the reduction in healthcare costs

22:48 - and so i know what we've met with them in

22:50 - their offices they definitely been champions

22:52 - and leaders and

22:53 - you know i know certainly.

22:56 - This has come up at budget hearings recently so i

22:58 - think there's a lot of interest in moving a sport

23:01 - now i understand the prescriptions would play a role here

23:04 - does that mean a doctor's writing a prescription for a medically tailored meal.

23:09 - Yeah so it's interesting cause i

23:11 - i

23:11 - think i was touching on this earlier in our conversation right like when you go into

23:15 - the hospital no one can bring you any food and often if the doctor i

23:19 - saw on healthcare systems that allow dieticians

23:21 - i would argue it should be a dietician

23:23 - by a healthcare provider what have have to write prescription right business and

23:28 - you know

23:28 - again i think

23:29 - often when I've been talking to policymakers right

23:32 - i think often they think i'm here to talk about

23:35 - food access that's right our food benefit if

23:38 - i and

23:38 - again all of those things are very important

23:41 - but this is really treatment so this is not for everyone i

23:44 - often as the five percent is costing the healthcare system

23:47 - fifty percent of the healthcare costs right so

23:50 - this is a prescribed intervention for a population

23:54 - that needs a specialized diet

23:56 - get.

23:57 - Outcomes for their diagnosis so how are doctors responding to the prospect of

24:02 - having to write prescriptions for meals.

24:05 - I think that they're used to doing it right.

24:08 - Already doing it up.

24:10 - There often be right there often things especially like saying

24:13 - you know if you have a diet

24:14 - that diabetes your you know doctors telling

24:16 - you you have to before your carbohydrates so

24:19 - i think this is just moving it from.

24:22 - People recognizing that

24:24 - the diet is

24:24 - important but then

24:26 - how do people

24:27 - get access to that right how how do folks get access to that prescribed diet.

24:33 - Now whenever legislation comes up with this nature it

24:36 - seems that it introduces a new level of transparency.

24:40 - So how does the bill make sure that

24:43 - medically tailored meals are going

24:45 - to qualified

24:46 - patients.

24:48 - Yeah so i don't

24:50 - i don't know all the details but i think what they

24:52 - will be putting in there is metrics around right

24:55 - Cochran certain.

24:57 - Certain diagnoses that would match right this

24:59 - sprite diet

25:00 - and then i noticed that anyone we've talked with a bunch

25:03 - of folks up in Harrisburg Knoxville i need to focus on

25:05 - who are we talking about right and i who

25:07 - who needs these services

25:09 - and it really is ray

25:11 - oak that you know

25:12 - have a

25:13 - cancer diagnosis then again the other thing that i think is really important.

25:17 - Because this topic comes up a lot right as

25:20 - you know i think something that people are worried that there's going to be.

25:24 - You know abuse or

25:26 - your people are you know

25:27 - isn't going to be a free for all all

25:29 - i can stay into

25:31 - all the harder

25:32 - he is

25:33 - you know we serve thousands and thousands of patients throughout a year

25:36 - and

25:37 - no one

25:38 - wants to be on our services

25:40 - right and

25:41 - as i mentioned there's not

25:43 - a financial criteria tour services but the reality is

25:46 - most folks that we serve do have

25:48 - food access this year years

25:50 - and for that

25:51 - on the rare occasion when we do serve someone

25:54 - who has the means who have financial means

25:57 - i can assure you they're usually on our services for less than a month

26:01 - right and they appreciate they receive the education

26:04 - but then they have the tools to do it themselves aid or or

26:08 - they have a month one or so one

26:10 - the folks that were serving they will not

26:13 - have access to services without mana or

26:16 - mana

26:16 - like agency right so this is not

26:19 - you know

26:20 - it's a fault or something that comes out that

26:21 - people are like oh we can't you know we can't

26:23 - feed everybody well

26:25 - i would argue that

26:26 - they

26:26 - need to be exploited but

26:28 - this is not

26:28 - what we're talking about

26:29 - this is a

26:30 - complex medical need

26:32 - so we have less than two minutes left we've already

26:35 - talked about represents cause they're asking

26:37 - and the hillock and obviously

26:38 - you need more legislative support in order to get this bill across the

26:42 - finish line so what have you been doing to engage

26:46 - lawmakers to pay attention and support this bill.

26:49 - Yeah so

26:49 - food just like the reach out i know as a

26:52 - i believe as of last Friday we had twenty.

26:54 - Folks on and on to the bill

26:56 - so outraged you know.

26:58 - Continuing our trips to

27:00 - Harrisburg making phone calls sending emails and

27:03 - like i said this is the bipartisan i think we

27:05 - got bipartisan support and

27:07 - i

27:08 - think

27:08 - most people and i think the phone

27:10 - up in Harrisburg are really really interested in being leaders in this space and

27:14 - you'll demonstrate you know again better health outcomes a significant health care

27:18 - reduction in health care costs

27:20 - last question sue any clue as to how soon lawmakers will take this up.

27:25 - I do not i wish i hadn't

27:28 - but i do know that in the budget

27:30 - budget hearings and so forth if

27:32 - this has come up in the topic.

27:34 - We have been talking with sue daugherty

27:36 - chief executive officer

27:38 - of men

27:39 - thank you very much for your time.

27:41 - Thank you so much it's been great talking with you.

27:58 - Hmm.