Recording Now Available from Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Webinar 
Co-hosted by SIREN and the Camden Coalition, this webinar included a brief overview of the final AHC Evaluation Report and a moderated discussion with AHC implementation site leaders from Colorado, New Jersey, and Oklahoma exploring their experiences with model implementation, impacts, and sustainability. 

Opportunity for SIREN community to comment on the OMB proposed rule, “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance”, which relates to funding scientific grants in the US.

At SIREN, we know rigorous health services research provides data critical to improving population health. So we wanted to share an opportunity to comment on the recently proposed federal rule that would by-pass peer review of federal grants and make other substantive changes to funding for science in the US. Summaries of the proposed rule are easily accessible online, including this description from Elizabeth Ginexi, a former NIH Program Official. Comments are a standard part of the rule-making process, and they are required to be taken into consideration before rule-changes proceed. Carefully-worded, individualized comments (not form letters) can play an important role in decision-making if submitted before 7/13/26. (Ginexi also has suggestions for writing effective comments about the proposed rule.) If you choose to comment, you can use this direct link to the official Government website. Note that you can comment anonymously.

Webinars

Hunger Vital Sign National Community of Practice: Summer Virtual Meeting – July 21, 2026 | 11am PT/2pm ET

Systems for Action: Research to Understand Systemic Racism as a Barrier and Engagement with Child Mental Health Services – July 29, 2026 | 9am PT/12pm ET

Meetings & Conferences

Camden Coalition: Putting Care at the Center 2026 – October 14-16, 2026 | Oakland, CA | Early bird registration is open through July 31, 2026

NAPCRG: 54th Annual Meeting – November 24-26, 2025 | Toronto, Canada 

With support from Kaiser Permanente, SIREN created and validated the Patient Experience of Social Care measure, a 7-item survey to assess patients’ experiences with social care. Email us if you have questions about the measure at siren@ucsf.edu.

HealthBegins: Matching Services to Needs in Food Is Medicine: A Step-Down Model for Better Health Outcomes – Originally broadcast May 27, 2026 

Below, we share multiple SIREN-relevant articles published since the last newsletter. For a full list, see the SIREN Evidence and Resource Library. As always, if you are aware of resources that you think should be added to the library, please send them our way.

June Research Highlights

Medically Tailored Meals Receipt and Healthcare Utilization and Costs in Massachusetts' Medicaid Demonstration Hager K, Alcusky M, Zhang FF, Sing G, Ash A, Mick E, et al. | Nature Medicine

This study of 1,866 medically tailored meals (MTMs) recipients and 1,372 comparators found significantly fewer hospitalizations and ED visits, with healthcare cost reductions offsetting 98% of program costs, leaving a net cost of just $14.90 per person per month. Savings were most pronounced among participants with chronic diseases.

The Effects of the Rx Kids Unconditional Cash Prescription Programme During Pregnancy and Infancy on Birth Outcomes in the USA: A Population-Based, Quasi-Experimental Study Agarwal S, Shaefer HL, Zamani-Hank Y, Finegood E, LaChance J, Hanna M | The Lancet Public Health

The Rx Kids Unconditional Cash Prescription Programme provided participants with $1500 during pregnancy and $500 per month for 12 months after birth (up to $7500). The evaluation found the intervention was associated with substantial population-level reductions in adverse birth outcomes, particularly low birthweight.

Health Insurance as Climate Adaptation: A Practical Framework Gould CF, Tsou AC, Puliady S, McMenamin SB | Health Affairs

The authors of this paper propose a practical framework to support health insurers to make climate change adaptations, including by: 1. Reducing members' extreme weather exposures during high-risk windows (e.g., providing cooling access, and increasing access to indoor air filtration); and 2. Preserving care when routine systems break down (e.g., authorizing early refills and increasing flexibilities around temporary networks). 

Other New Research

Comparing Care Coordination and Food Assistance Referrals to Improve Diabetes Outcomes: A Cohort Study Berkowitz SA, Dankovchik J, Kuhn ML, et al. | Journal of General Internal Medicine

Medicare Advantage's Provision of Expanded Supplemental Benefits and Acute Care Utilization Jung J, Song G, Feldman R, Carlin C, Polsky D, Kim H | Health Services Research

Engaging with the All My Relations Advisory Board in a Healthy Food Incentive Randomized Controlled Trial: A Qualitative Process Evaluation Lee YY, Sehgal A, Williams K, Scott S, Meneen K, Lightning P, et al. | Canadian Medical Association Journal

Advancing Food Is Medicine Research: An EPIS-Informed Qualitative Study of Stakeholder Views O'Neil D, Muse J, Robinson JA, Scheib I | Journal of Primary Care and Community Health

Food Insecurity Identification Modeling for Medicare Enrollees Using Administrative Data Wrathall J, Hersh D | American Journal of Managed Care

Clinical Care and Referral Pathways for Food Security Screening in Health Care: A Scoping Review Yearley S, Ridberg R, Tatarian A, Moreno Loaeza L, Feudo S, Patel S, et al. | Journal of the American Heart Association

Making the Most of Limited Resources: Predicting Food Insecurity Silver C, Ozluk P, Johnson M, Chi W, Wrathall J, Agrawal S | American Journal of Managed Care

Food Insecurity and Hospital Resource Utilization Molina AL, Carpenter A, Orr M, et al. | Journal of Hospital Medicine

Dietitians as Boundary Spanners: A Case Study of a Cross-Sector Health-Related Social Needs Program Adams C, Prendergast K, Pham A, et al. | Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics

Analyzing Pediatric Department Documentation of Patient Social Needs With ICD-10 Z-Codes Akinwunmi OJ, Galusha D, Hooper B, et al. | BMC Health Services Research

Beyond Medicare ACOs: Pediatric Alternative Payment Models and Financial Risk-Sharing Sprecher E, Perrin JM | Pediatrics

Convergence and Differences Across Social Needs Identified Through Structured Screeners and Clinical Assessments Zein D, Gogia K, Clapp J, Calvo-Friedman A, Davis NJ, Chang JE | American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Identification of Patients for a Community Health Worker Program Using an Artificial Intelligence Algorithm Savitz ST, Broderick B, Paul MM, et al.| Learning Health Systems

Clinicians' Decisions to Screen for Intimate Partner Violence Use and Experience and Observed Impacts: Qualitative Study Walls SA, Yeterian JD, Orazietti S, Presseau C, Portnoy GA | JMIR Formative Research

Linking Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program Implementation with Patient-Reported Outcomes Kapa HM, Liu Z, Berardi J, Glavin CM, Myers RK | Injury

Development and Usability of a Social Determinants of Health Dashboard in School-based Health Borkowski VM, Curry-Johnson S, Piano MR, Maughan ED, Jeffery AD | Computers, Informatics, Nursing 

Tools and toolkits

Food is Medicine toolkit | Food is Medicine Institute

Where Systems Meet People: Closing the Engagement Gap for Latino People Experiencing Homelessness De La Vega C, Doyle, L | Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab

Commentaries and blogs

Using Nutritious Food MA Supplemental Benefits to Fight Chronic Disease Chen AH, Carson MA, Green AP, Seligman H | Health Affairs Forefront