Quality Improvement in Acute Care Malnutrition: Impact on Payment and Patient Outcomes

The diagnosis of malnutrition in the hospital setting is an evolving and ever-changing systematic process. Multiple disciplines play a part in the standardized steps to capture and identify patients at risk of malnutrition. Understanding the workflow that is needed to facilitate accurate malnutrition documentation, from nutrition screening to provider diagnosis and everything in between, is pivotal for all stakeholders. The electronic medical record (EMR) contains several data fields that can be used to track process efforts. Dietitians and nutrition leaders must understand the EMR, implement standardized language in malnutrition documentation, and develop tracking systems to identify areas for improvement or efficiencies in the process. The diagnosis of malnutrition helps to capture the severity of hospitalized patients' conditions and reimbursement rates that are more appropriate for the level of care and resources that are needed to treat. Creating a culture focused on malnutrition risk and nutrition education can impact many hospitals' outcome measures.