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Health Innovations

The health innovations department at the Steele Institute for Health advances population health to improve the well-being of our patients, communities and members of the Geisinger family.

Our approach goes beyond traditional medical care. By integrating human-centered design and innovative screening solutions, we identify risks such as unmet social needs, environmental factors, chronic health conditions and gaps in preventive care. These insights allow us to deliver tailored recommendations, programs and services that address the whole person.

What are health-related social needs?

These are immediate barriers — like access to food, housing and transportation — that can prevent people from getting care and impact health outcomes.

To address these challenges, we’ve implemented an organizational strategy and launched pilot programs in partnership with community-based organizations. Our work includes:

  • Technology-driven screening to identify social needs and underlying risk factors
  • Data dashboards and reporting tools to track trends and measure outcomes
  • Analytics-driven interventions to guide partnerships and scale successful programs
  • Resource expansion to increase capacity for community partners
  • Outcome-focused strategies to reduce social risk factors and improve health 

This crucial work strengthens Geisinger’s role as a health advocate for one and all.

Featured health innovations:

We’re working across sectors to find new, creative ways to address social and environmental factors that impact health.

Fresh Food Farmacy®

Diabetes and other diet-related illnesses are serious issues in low-income communities. Geisinger’s Fresh Food Farmacy® offers prescriptions for no-cost nutritious food to food-insecure patients with diabetes, with the goal of keeping their disease under control. The Fresh Food Farmacy is stocked with items consistent with American Diabetes Association guidelines. Thanks to the generous support of the Degenstein Foundation, Pennsylvania-based Weis Markets, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, and CEO Weinberg Regional Food Bank will partner to provide weekly diabetes-friendly grocery bags filled with fresh produce, lean proteins and healthier options to people enrolled in the program. The program also provides recipes, menus and regular phone calls from a health manager in order to educate patients and help eliminate barriers of food insecurity.
 
National and local media have featured the Fresh Food Farmacy, including CNBC, CBS News, NPR, USA Today, Harvard Business Review and the Times Leader. For more information, visit Fresh Food Farmacy.

Springboard Health

Springboard Health®, piloted in Scranton, Pa., is the launch site for an innovative approach to improving the health and resilience of an entire community through healthier families and stronger neighborhoods. Geisinger has engaged and convened a network of global, national and local partners with the goal of transforming healthcare at its core by focusing on preventive care, behavioral health and economic growth. Learn more about Springboard Health.

Fighting the opioid epidemic

Death rates from opioids in our region are four times greater than that of New York City. Here at Geisinger, we are changing that.

Since 2014, Geisinger has reduced opioid prescriptions by nearly half – slashing prescriptions from 60,000 per month to 31,000. Instead, we help patients achieve lasting pain relief with alternative options, including physical therapy and behavioral health treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy. All of our work focused on the opioid epidemic fall into three core work streams: prevention, pain management and treatment.

Currently, Geisinger has 43 workstreams focused on solving the opioid epidemic. The Steele Institute has been working to align all workstreams under one umbrella, to organize and measure them for success, and to reduce duplication when necessary. Our goals are to catalog all current initiatives based on an established framework of prevention, pain management and treatment, and to ensure the initiatives are consistent across all regions.

  • Prevention. Our teams have developed 21 workstreams spread across our footprint, with a focus on minimizing risk. This comes through opioid alternatives, rigorous monitoring of opioid use and community education.
  • Pain management. Eleven workstreams have been deployed across our footprint, with a focus on treating pain. This comes through appropriate use of evidence-based, comprehensive and compassionate acute and chronic pain management treatments. When possible, opioid alternatives should be used; when not possible, rigorous monitoring of opioid use should be in place.
  • Treatment. We have 11 workstreams in place devoted to optimizing recovery. By linking patients to evidence-based treatments in both specialty and non-specialty settings and through close monitoring of those with opioid use disorder (OUD), we are recognizing epidemiological trends to progress recovery.

Our teams’ work, which continues to evolve into the future, includes screening methods; defining clear, standardized measures of success; and translating initiatives across all levels of care.

Free2BMom™

Free2BMom™ helps mothers and their newborns thrive and succeed during recovery from opioid use disorder. The program supports women in Columbia, Montour, Northumberland and Luzerne counties who are in recovery during pregnancy and two years after childbirth.

The program provides counseling, social support and medication-assisted treatment, empowering the mother and her baby to thrive physically, psychologically and socially. We work with community organizations to help patients with health and social needs such as transportation, job training, legal service, nutrition and exercise.

The program is open to all pregnant women or those who’ve recently given birth and who are enrolled in medication-assisted treatment, regardless of ability to pay.

Contact Free2BMom

Have questions about being pregnant with opioid use disorder in Columbia, Montour, Northumberland or Luzerne counties? Call today: 844-762-2864. Or to make a referral, download our form here.

Our leadership team:

  • Allison Hess, Vice President Health Innovations
  • Maria Welch, Senior Wellness Specialist
Free2BeMom
Free2BMom™ helps mothers and their newborns thrive and succeed during recovery from opioid use disorder. The program supports women in Columbia, Montour, Northumberland and Luzerne counties who are in recovery during pregnancy and two years after childbirth.
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