Academy Foundation Blog

September 2022 Monthly Message

By Foundation Admin posted 09-12-2022 11:56 AM

  

Our Foundation’s Efforts on Malnutrition

Are you aware of the decades long joint efforts of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and our Foundation to identify and reduce malnutrition in people who are hospitalized?

This September Foundation Chair message capsulizes this expansive work on malnutrition and illustrates how the two Academy organizations work in sync to establish research findings and use these to advocate on behalf of all food and nutrition professionals to raise awareness of the value of our work. The recent culmination of the Academy and Avalere Health’s work on the Global Malnutrition Composite Score will have far reaching benefits throughout our profession and the general health of the public.

The Global Malnutrition Composite Score

The Global Malnutrition Composite Score, stewarded by the Academy and developed by Avalere, is the first nutrition-focused quality measure and first composite electronic clinical quality measure in any CMS payment program. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently finalized its proposal to include the Global Malnutrition Composite Score  (GMCS) in its Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program in the 2023 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule. The Global Malnutrition Composite Score measures rates of nutrition screening, assessment by a registered dietitian nutritionist, malnutrition diagnosis by a physician and nutrition care plan documentation. This measure is a check on whether or not the Nutrition Care Process (NCP) has been followed in managing/addressing existing or possible malnutrition.

Measuring performance based on this collective information can facilitate high-quality, comprehensive nutrition care that begins in the inpatient setting and can continue after discharge.

"The Global Malnutrition Composite Score advances the treatment of patients with malnutrition, elevates the role of registered dietitian nutritionists in interdisciplinary health care teams and incentivizes health systems to provide the best level of care—all of which can shorten hospital stays and reduce readmissions," said registered dietitian nutritionist and Academy President Ellen R. Shanley.

The MCS development and implementation will be presented at both the American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition’s (ASPEN) “Nutrition is a Patient Right” Conference and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in September.

Foundation Funded Research and Awards

Through the generosity of our donors, our Foundation is also empowering food and nutrition practitioners with tools and resources that address malnutrition. Over the past few years, our Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation and dollars raised through its Second Century Member Campaign have funded essential research in the area of malnutrition being conducted by the Academy’s RISA team.

  • Academy and ASPEN Indicators to diagnose Malnutrition (AAIM). AAIM is a landmark research project being conducted in 68 hospital sites in the U.S. to test the validity of the AAIM pediatric and adult diagnostic tools and to develop an RDN staffing model that optimizes nutrition care of hospitalized patients. Data collection will be completed in December 2022, with preliminary results for the AAIM validation being presented at FNCE 2022. Special thanks goes to the Commission on Dietetic Registration and the Pediatric Nutrition, Clinical Nutrition Management and Renal Dietitians Practice Groups for their generous support of this project.
  • Unintended Weight Loss in Older Adults funded by the Dietetics in Healthcare Communities Dietetic Practice Group.  This project will result in a scoping and a systematic review both focused on assessment of malnutrition in older adults as well as effective interventions for these individuals. Evidence-based practice recommendations will be derived from the systematic review for RDNs to use in the treatment and prevention of malnutrition for older adults living in the community or in long term care settings. More information on all the Foundation’s research initiatives can be found here.
  • The Academy’s extensive work and resources on clinical malnutrition can be found here. I urge you to keep up to date on its latest work and findings.

Through the support of Abbott Nutrition, our Foundation also annually recognizes Academy members who are working in a hospital setting and making significant contributions to improve awareness of and take action to address malnutrition with the Abbott Nutrition Malnutrition Award. Our Foundation recognizes Rebecca Kerkenbush as our 2022 recipient.

Registered Dietitians play a critical role in diagnosing and treating malnutrition and our Academy and Foundation are committed to helping us to o communicate the valuable role of the food and nutrition professional to raise awareness of and to prevent and manage malnutrition. I am thankful for the tireless work of the Academy and all the donors who have contributed to the Foundation’s efforts to address malnutrition.

With Your Help, We Can Do Even More…Donate Today!

Sincerely,

Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDCES, BC-ADM, FADCES
2022-2023 Chair, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation

#FoundationChairMessage #FoundationNews​​

Permalink