Why Diagnose → Prescribe → Drive Adherence → Adjust → Measure Outcomes is becoming the industry standard—and why healthcare organizations with 10K+ lives are choosing Prado to power it.

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After years of pilot programs, point solutions, and “healthy eating” recommendations, healthcare leaders are now asking a harder question:

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What is the clinical standard for delivering food as a metabolic intervention at scale?

The answer is finally becoming clear.
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Prado’s 5-step engagement model—Diagnose → Prescribe → Drive Adherence → Adjust → Measure Outcomes—is built directly from the most validated components of metabolic and lifestyle intervention research, including DPP, Look AHEAD, DiRECT, Wing et al., and ADA nutrition therapy guidelines.
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Across these trials, the evidence shows:

• Clinician-led nutrition therapy improves glycemic control
  
  
• Structured, calorie-targeted meal plans reliably induce 5–7% weight loss
  
  
• Adherence—not the diet type—is the primary determinant of outcomes
  
  
• Regular provider follow-up is essential for metabolic stability
  
  
• Weight loss consistently predicts cardiometabolic improvement
  
  
• When nutrition programs scale, healthcare costs go down
  
  

Prado transforms these insights into a repeatable, clinically aligned workflow that health systems, provider groups, and employer health partners can deploy across 10,000+ patients or members.

Below is the 5-step model—and why we believe it will become the clinical and operational standard for food-as-medicine nationally.
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The Standard: Prado’s 5-Step Provider-in-the-Loop Engagement Model
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1. Diagnose: Establish the Clinical Baseline

The medical foundation for any nutrition intervention must be a clinical diagnosis.

Following the structure of MNT intake, DPP assessment, and primary care weight management protocols, Prado begins with a provider-led telemedicine visit that includes:

• Diagnosis coding (T2D, obesity, prediabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome)
  
  
• Baseline biometrics (weight, BP, HbA1c, labs, GLP-1 usage)
  
  
• Social, dietary, and behavioral assessment
  
  
• Medical necessity documentation (HSA/FSA compliant)
  
  

Why this is essential:
A diagnosed condition ties the nutrition intervention to medical necessity, allows providers to prescribe structured meal plans, and ensures the intervention is defensible, billable, and clinically aligned.
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2. Prescribe: Deliver a Structured Nutrition Protocol

Evidence from Look AHEAD, DiRECT, ADA guidelines, and meal-replacement RCTs is unequivocal:
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Structured, calorie-targeted nutrition plans with provider oversight produce clinically meaningful metabolic improvement.
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Prado enables providers to select from rigorously designed protocols:

• Calorie-targeted plans
  
  
• Macronutrient-defined plans
  
  
• Structured meal bundles (a key evidence-backed feature)
  
  
• 12–24 week standardized program durations
  
  

The plan is documented in the chart, and a medical necessity letter is generated automatically.
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Why this is essential:
It transforms vague dietary advice into a prescribed therapy—mirroring the structure of the world’s most effective metabolic trials.
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3. Drive Adherence: Turn Meal Ordering Into an Objective Adherence Loop

Nutrition programs fail without adherence.

Research shows:

Higher adherence → greater weight loss → improved glycemic control.

Prado solves adherence measurement—one of the hardest problems in nutrition—by using meal ordering as an objective proxy:

• Structured meal recommendations or bundles
  
  
• Weekly adherence scores based on orders
  
  
• Optional patient-reported satiety, hunger, energy, and satisfaction
  
  

No food logging. No manual tracking. Adherence is built into the delivery mechanism.

Why this is essential:
Providers finally get real-time adherence signals—the exact predictor of metabolic success proven in major trials.
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4. Adjust: Provider Follow-Ups at the Right Clinical Cadence

The ADA Standards of Care are clear:

Regular follow-up is required for metabolic stability, behavior change, and glycemic improvement.

Prado operationalizes the guideline cadence:

• First follow-up at 4–8 weeks
  
  
• Ongoing visits every 3–6 months
  
  
• Additional visits based on adherence and symptoms
  
  

During each visit, providers can:

• Review adherence signals
  
  
• Adjust meal plans
  
  
• Review weight, BP, symptoms
  
  
• Evaluate GLP-1 dosage appropriateness
  
  
• Update the treatment plan
  
  

Why this is essential:
This step mirrors the follow-up patterns in DPP and Look AHEAD—two of the most successful lifestyle interventions ever run.
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5. Measure Outcomes: Report What Predicts ROI

Prado tracks the validated metrics that matter most:

• Weight (primary proximal outcome in nearly all metabolic trials)
  
  
• HbA1c (every 3–6 months)
  
  
• GLP-1 dosage and continuation patterns
  
  
• BP and other cardiometabolic vitals
  
  
• Adherence scores
  
  
• Patient-reported symptoms
  
  

With integrations (HealthKit, Withings, Labcorp, Quest, Truepill, Fitbit, Human API), Prado automates data ingestion to reduce friction and elevate reporting quality.
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Why this is essential:
These metrics are the exact endpoints used to determine success in major metabolic studies—and the exact predictors of employer cost reduction.
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Why Large Healthcare Organizations Choose a 5-Step Model Powered by Prado

Organizations with 10,000+ lives adopt Prado because:

• It is clinically aligned with the strongest metabolic evidence
  
  
• It preserves—and amplifies—the provider’s role
  
  
• It provides a predictable operational model
  
  
• It generates measurable outcomes tied to financial ROI
  
  
• It can be deployed in 30 days
  
  
• It transforms “food-as-medicine” into a clinical, compliant, scalable intervention
  

Most importantly, it provides a single, repeatable standard for an industry that has long needed one.

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Conclusion: The New Standard Begins With Providers, Evidence, and Structure

Food-as-medicine is entering its clinical era.
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The industry is moving away from vague recommendations and fragmented meal programs—and toward structured, evidence-based nutrition interventions that mirror the rigor of top metabolic trials.

The Prado 5-step model—Diagnose → Prescribe → Drive Adherence → Adjust → Measure Outcomes—is the blueprint for this new standard.
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If your organization manages 10,000+ lives and is ready to deploy a clinically credible, provider-in-the-loop food-as-medicine intervention:
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Prado can stand it up in 30 days.