"VA pilot studies teach veterans healing value of better food choices" - USA Today
By Cari Shane. Nov. 6, 2025
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ZealCare and Reinvestment Partners Unite to Improve Health Outcomes Through 'Food Is Medicine' for Patients with Heart Failure
For release: February 26, 2025
Durham, N.C.
Reinvestment Partners, a Durham-based nonprofit organization focused on creating and sustaining healthy communities, has partnered with ZealCare, an innovative behavior change health coaching and support company enabling and supporting the healthy lifestyles needed for optimal clinical outcomes, to conduct one of the largest randomized controlled studies to date of an intensive Food is Medicine intervention. The study, funded by Reinvestment Partners, will examine the impact of the Reinvestment Partners Eat Well program combined with ZealCare health coaching on the health of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF).
Reinvestment Partners is a leader in the Food is Medicine movement, and its Eat Well initiative is the largest produce prescription program in the country. Eat Well uses prepaid debit cards and tech-enabled systems to provide patients at risk of food insecurity with funds to purchase fruits and vegetables at major food retailers. Since it was launched in 2018, the Eat Well program has served more than 150,000 patients across the country and allowed participants to spend over $29 million on fruits and vegetables.
ZealCare empowers patients with multiple complex conditions to become engaged and effective in self-managing their health, resulting in improved outcomes and significant cost savings reflected in a validated 6:1 ROI. The 12-month program is delivered virtually by certified health coaches on an AI-enabled platform to dose engagement and intensity, and combines personal health planning, peer-to-peer group sessions, a whole-person curriculum inclusive of mindfulness meditation and stress reduction, and social determinants of health screening and response. The model focuses on high-risk patients with cardiometabolic conditions, like CHF, where behavior change, and clinical plan adherence can markedly improve patient outcomes.
“This partnership is a testament to the strength of ZealCare’s innovative lifestyle behavior change approach and Reinvestment Partners’ commitment to create solutions that drive impact within the community, to improve health outcomes and decrease overall health care costs in patients with serious chronic diseases,” noted Dr. Ralph Snyderman, ZealCare’s founder.
“Reinvestment Partners’ Eat Well program enables patients to buy healthy fruits and vegetables that they need and want. By coordinating healthy food with health coaching, we will have a greater impact on patient outcomes than either intervention alone. Our goal is to help patients with CHF to live healthier lives,” said Peter Skillern, CEO of Reinvestment Partners.
About Reinvestment Partners
Reinvestment Partners is a Durham-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster healthy and just communities by empowering people, improving places, and influencing policy. The organization addresses the problems of poverty and social injustice in the areas of food, housing, community development, health, and financial services.
Learn more at https://reinvestmentpartners.org/
About ZealCare
ZealCare is a Durham-based technology-enabled personalized health company that transforms chronic disease care management through patient empowerment. ZealCare brings a new approach to healthcare, focusing on technology-enabled, personalized, integrative care that is grounded in evidence, focused on needed behavior change. The ZealCare program has demonstrated significant cost stavings, improved outcomes and high participant satisfaction. Founded in late 2020, the ZealCare patient-centered model is built upon decades of research conducted by Founder Ralph Snyderman, M.D., and Co-Founder Connor Drake, PhD, at Duke University School of Medicine, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and local federally qualified care clinics. The validated care model builds deep patient engagement through personalized health planning and goal setting with integrative health coaching. With its robust team and extensive evidence base, ZealCare is a significant force in transforming the healthcare landscape, while staying true to its mission to empower people with complex chronic conditions to live the life they want!
Learn more at www.zealcare.com.
NexJ Health & ZealCare to Deliver Next Generation Behavior Change Solutions for Disease Management and Health Enhancement
Partnership comes at a time when the shift to value-based care is driving demand for cost-efficient outcomes and unique digital therapeutic solutions.
Durham and Toronto (November 30, 2023) — NexJ Health Inc., a Toronto-based provider of digital solutions for chronic condition management and mental well-being, and ZealCare Inc., a North Carolina-based company focused on empowering individuals with complex chronic illnesses to improve their health and decrease costs, today announced a go-to-market partnership that provides a comprehensive delivery platform providing personalized coaching to encourage the critical behavior changes that drive optimal outcomes. The platform offers the flexibility to address a range of outcomes from disease prevention to complex care, including mental health.
ZealCare’s personalized health coaching program is built on decades of validated best practices developed at Duke Health. Their model pioneered by the ‘father of personalized medicine’, Dr. Ralph Snyderman, uses health coaches, peer support, and a personalized health plan to empower individuals living with multiple chronic diseases to modify their behaviors, which drives both the desired clinical outcomes and reduces costs. Dr. Ralph Snyderman, Founder and Board Chair of ZealCare notes that “this approach creates a new paradigm for healthcare management, effectively dosing the level of engagement and intensity needed to support patients along the entire clinical spectrum to achieve optimal outcomes in a cost-effective manner.”
NexJ Health has been a leader in evidence-based outcomes for population health management since the launch of its innovative, scalable, digital health and analytics platform, NexJ Connected Wellness. The platform supports individuals in the prevention and management of a wide spectrum of chronic conditions including mental health, having adopted a polychronic approach to health coaching that is person-centered. “Our companies share a foundation deeply rooted in clinical evidence with strikingly similar principles to support individuals in achieving critical behavior change with the help of a health coach,” said ZealCare CEO Maureen O’Connor. “This partnership is a natural evolution that allows us to leverage NexJ’s powerful analytics to further personalize our state-of-the-art coaching capabilities with a focus on driving better health outcomes at a significantly lower cost for those with polychronic conditions.”
Bill Tatham, Founder and Executive Chairman at NexJ Health, said NexJ Health’s technology is critical for delivering this level of care at scale. “NexJ Health’s AI-enabled technology platform was purpose-built to enable therapeutic alliance between a coach and multiple participants at a ratio that far exceeds industry standards.”
This partnership comes at a time when the shift to value-based care is driving demand for cost-efficient outcomes and unique digital therapeutic solutions. Together, the companies can bring to market evidence-based programs to support the complete spectrum of chronic diseases, including mental health.
ABOUT NEXJ HEALTH INC.
NexJ Health Inc. is a provider of patient-facing population health management solutions that deliver patient engagement for chronic disease prevention and management. At NexJ Health, we believe that the most efficient and cost-effective way to offset the rise in chronic disease is to empower patients, with the support of their families, friends, and healthcare professionals, to actively participate in managing their chronic condition(s). By engaging patients through NexJ Connected Wellness, we help to achieve healthcare’s quintuple aim: improve the patient experience, improve population health, lower the per capita cost of care, increase provider satisfaction, and deliver business efficiency. For more information about NexJ Health visit www.nexjhealth.com, email info@nexjhealth.com, or call 416-227-3700.
ABOUT ZEALCARE
ZealCare Inc., based in Durham, North Carolina, founded by Drs. Ralph Snyderman and Connor Drake, and led by Maureen O’Connor, is a personalized chronic condition management and behavior change solution that is delivered virtually. Developed and validated at Duke Health’s Center for Personalized Health Care, ZealCare was spun out as an independent company in 2020. ZealCare’s human-centered, relationship-based approach provides a proactive and personalized experience that fosters social support and accountability to attain behaviors that achieve the best sustainable health outcomes. ZealCare empowers people to achieve their health and well-being goals by helping them adapt the behaviors needed to lead the life they desire. ZealCare delivers a truly unique and personalized community experience that is fun and engaging while reducing health costs, improving clinical outcomes, and enhancing quality of life. For more information about ZealCare visit www.zealcare.com, or email Cassie Wallace, Chief Operating Officer at cassie@zealcare.com.
The personalized, integrative chronic disease management company has recruited industry innovators Maureen O’Connor, Steve Nelson, Marcus Osborne, and Christopher O’Connor, MD
Research Triangle Park, NC – ZealCare today announced its emergence from stealth and the recruitment of a top-tier board. The startup offers a personalized, integrative approach to chronic disease care with an initial suite of products targeted at poorly controlled type 2 diabetes and stage 3-5 chronic kidney disease.
ZealCare was spun out of Duke University in late 2020 where former Duke University Health System CEO and ZealCare Co-Founder Ralph Snyderman, MD built and perfected the model. His team and Co-Founder Connor Drake, PhD researched, validated, and published the evidence showing the benefits of the approach. “The last mile for improving health and reducing costs is the individual’s behavior changes needed for treatment plans to be effective. ZealCare has developed an approach to achieve this goal,” says Dr. Snyderman.
Snyderman recruited Maureen O’Connor as the startup’s CEO. Ms. O’Connor is a health care entrepreneur and former Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) executive. She says, “ZealCare is redefining chronic disease management with a focus on the individual’s experience, active engagement, and empowerment. Our human-centric, tech-enabled model supports individuals in making the behavior changes necessary to improve their lives and achieve better health outcomes while lowering cost in the system.”
Together, Snyderman and O’Connor have recruited health care powerhouses to the board, including:
• Steve Nelson, startup investor and former BCBSNC chairman,
• Marcus Osborne, former Walmart Health senior vice president, and
• Christopher O’Connor, MD, Inova Heart and Vascular Institute president
“I was thrilled to sign on with ZealCare because I believe it has created a truly unique and innovative approach for solving a real and pressing problem in health care. The company is creating delightful, scalable consumer experiences using high-touch patient engagements, coupled with best of breed technology. We are in the golden era for digital health, however, to be most effective, it needs to be linked to consumer engagement.” says Nelson.
Osborne adds, “I’m excited to join ZealCare and support the company’s journey as a leader in the chronic disease space. COVID-19 has exposed gaps in the system and accelerated innovations around value-based models and digital solutions. I think the team is obsessed with the right problem and has created a pragmatic solution.”
Dr. O’Connor also affirms, “It is refreshing to see a startup built from a validated model that stems from work I was involved in earlier in my career. As a physician-leader of a large clinical delivery system, I look to improve patient outcomes with effective approaches based on sound research and clinical principles. ZealCare is poised to provide health care systems with solutions they desperately need.”
ZealCare is partnering with risk-bearing provider organizations and intends to expand its customer base to payers and self-funded employers. Dr. Snyderman and Ms. O’Connor said, “We’re in a strong position for growth. We believe our board’s deep industry experience will be a tremendous asset in accelerating our expansion and furthering our mission.”
To learn more about the team at ZealCare, please visit link.
JAMA. 2010;303(4):363364. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.34
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/185256