National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: 8 Osteoporosis
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

Section III
Nutrition Services Along the Continuum of Care

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

9
Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting

In 1967, inpatient hospital costs comprised close to 63 percent of all Medicare payments, while the combined payments to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), home health agencies (HHAs), and outpatient services were less than 9 percent. During the past two decades, Medicare payment reforms and cost containment initiatives have changed the proportion of payments to inpatient hospitals. By 1996, inpatient hospital costs had dropped to 48 percent of Medicare payments and SNF, HHA, and outpatient services had increased to almost 26 percent of total Medicare payments. However, Medicare spending was concentrated on a relatively small percentage of enrollees. In 1996, approximately 12 percent of Medicare enrollees accounted for more than 75 percent of Medicare payments. The three groups of high-cost users were those with end-stage renal disease, beneficiaries who died (services became more intense as they approached death), and beneficiaries who required an inpatient hospital stay. The leading diagnoses for hospitalized beneficiaries, in terms of Medicare dollars spent, were malignant neoplasms, heart disease, fractures, pneumonia, and cerebrovascular disease (Health Care Financing Administration, 1998). Nutrition is involved in the primary, secondary, and/or tertiary prevention of each of these diseases or conditions.

MEDICARE REIMBURSEMENT IN ACUTE CARE, SHORT-STAY HOSPITALS

A prospective payment system is used by Medicare to reimburse for inpatient hospital costs. This system is based on diagnosis-related groups.

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

Coverage includes room, meals, nursing services, operating and recovery rooms, intensive care, inpatient prescription drugs, laboratory tests, and x-rays. Professional nutrition services, formulas, and parenteral solutions are also included in this payment.

ROLE OF THE NUTRITION PROFESSIONAL

Licensing standards require that hospitals employ a registered dietitian full-time, part-time, or on a consulting basis. Nutritional needs of patients must be met in accordance with recognized dietary practices and in agreement with orders of the practitioner responsible for the care of the patient (Code of Federal Regulations, 1998).

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) requires that all patients are screened for nutrition problems and, when a problem exists, there is appropriate nutrition intervention. This is an interdisciplinary process. Examples of the roles that various health care providers play can be found in Box 9.1. JCAHO standards also require that a patient’s readiness to learn be evaluated and that discharge planning and good transitional care begins when the patient is admitted to the hospital. The JCAHO designates the geriatric population as a high-risk group and has emphasized nutrition in its inspections during the last few years (JCAHO, 1996).

Identification of Nutrition Problems at Admission

Because of the JCAHO standards, most acute care hospitals have procedures to identify or screen patients for nutrition problems within 24 hours of admission. This may be done by the nurse, dietetic technician, or dietitian. The most common criteria used in this evaluation are diagnosis, weight, weight change, need for diet modification or education, problems with chewing or swallowing, diarrhea, constipation, and food dislikes or intolerance. The screening tool may also include specific laboratory values, such as serum albumin and cholesterol concentrations, and hematologic values such as hemoglobin and total lymphocyte count.

Nutrition Assessment

If a problem is identified in the screening, the patient is to be evaluated further by the dietitian. In-depth nutrition assessments may include such things as evaluation of anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical data; evaluation of energy and nutrient intake at home or in the hospital; evaluation of access to food at home; calculation or measurement of energy and nutrient needs; and assessment of learning needs. All of this is

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

done within the context of the patient’s disease or condition and any other treatment received. Interventions may include diets that are modified in macro- or micronutrients, diets that are modified in consistency, nutrient or energy supplementation using liquid dietary supplements, vitamin and mineral supplements, enteral or parenteral nutrition support, or nutrition counseling.

Continuum of Care

The nature of nutrition counseling has changed with decreased lengths of stay in acute care facilities. For the most part, patient education in hospitals involves teaching “survival skills” and linking the patient with a dietitian in the ambulatory setting where conditions are more conducive to helping people make long-term behavior changes. However, the lack of reimbursement for nutrition services in the ambulatory setting often limits the resources available to people once they have been discharged from the hospital. Patient education and the ability of people to manage their own care has been reported to be negatively impacted by short stays and inadequate ambulatory nutrition services (Weinberger et al., 1988).

Hospital dietitians also work with discharge planners, attempting to provide a smooth transition between the hospital and nutrition services in skilled nursing facilities or home care. However, few dietitians work in home care and the hospital dietitian is often called upon to advise home care agencies or home infusion companies about patients long after they have been discharged from the hospital.

Hospital dietitians may also refer patients with continuing nutrition or food assistance needs to community agencies, such as food banks, congregate feeding programs, and home-delivered meals.

Older People Needing Intervention for Undernutrition

Hospitalized people have more complicated and costly illnesses today than they did 20 years ago (Duffy and Farley, 1995). Although the overall length of stay has decreased, those patients with the most complex nutrition problems often have longer stays than the average patient and use more nutrition services during their hospital stay. The 24-hour requirement by JCAHO for screening is unrealistic and labor intensive. The methods adopted by many institutions to meet this requirement lack validity in the identification of undernourished patients, often depending on information that is unreliable (see chapter 4) or unavailable.

Some patients are discharged before screening and intervention can take place. Others do not receive the care needed because human re-

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

BOX 9.1
Roles of Health Care Professionals Providing Nutrition Care in Short-Stay, Acute Care Hospitals

Health Care Professional

Role in Nutrition Care

Physician

Overall responsibility for patient care, including identification of nutrition problems on physical examination (e.g., weight or lean body mass loss, abnormal lab values), ordering, monitoring and evaluating nutrition care. The physician needs to recognize how other kinds of therapy affect nutritional status.

Registered Nurse

Overall responsibility for coordinating patient care. Administering nutrition support regimens. Ongoing monitoring and reporting of effects of nutrition care on patient (e.g., food intake, weight, blood glucose monitoring, food intolerances, other complications), reinforces patient education. Supervises feeding and observation of food intake.

Registered Dietitian

Assessment of nutritional status. Planning, implementing, and evaluating nutrition care for high-risk patients. Integrates nutrition care with other forms of care (e.g., drug food interactions). Oversees work of support personnel (e.g., dietetic technician).

Dietetic Technician

Screens patients for nutrition problems. Provides nutrition care for patients at moderate risk. Plans modi-

sources are tied up with a mandatory screening process that is cumbersome and ineffective. The screening process may need to be simplified and focused on those patients with the most complex nutrition problems. The deadline for completion may also need to be extended so that screening of short-stay patients with the least complex nutrition problems does not overwhelm the limited resources available. Human resources could also be better used to help those patients with the most complex problems, including those needing help with food choices, feeding, or monitoring food intake.

There is also evidence in the literature that intervention for many older people in acute care hospitals is inadequate. Burns and Jensen (1995) reviewed the medical records of 268 “young” (aged 65 to 80 years) and “old” (over 80 years) elderly patients from seven admitting services in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Data in the medical record were used to evaluate the patients’ nutritional and functional status, hospital mortality, readmission, and disposition outcome. Data that were needed to

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

 

fied diets. Helps patients choose appropriate foods. Liaison with food service. Monitors and calculates nutrient intake.

Pharmacist

Identifies potential drug-nutrient/food interactions, particularly as they relate to drug bioavailability. Works with dietitian, nurse, physician to order and monitor parenteral nutrition support.

Respiratory Therapist

Observes effects of respiratory problems on food intake or effects of poor nutritional status on respiratory function. May measure and help interpret energy expenditure.

Social Worker

Coordinates transition from hospital to home or other level of care (e.g., provides assistance to patients about community agencies that can help with food access, home nutrition support).

Clergy

Identifies food preferences related to religion.

Rehabilitation–Occupational Therapy Speech Therapy Physical Therapy

Identifies and evaluates limitations in functional status that may affect food intake (e.g., dysphagia, immobility).

 

SOURCE: University of California at San Francisco Medical Center (1998).

evaluate nutritional status were found in most of the medical records (i.e., serum albumin [31 percent of records]; total lymphocyte count [95 percent of records]; percent ideal body weight [90 percent of records]). Even though investigators found that severe malnutrition was common in this elderly population, there was little evidence that the patient’s physicians had identified or documented this. The presence of a positive malnutrition index was associated with older age, impaired functional status, and greater mortality. Patients with malnutrition also required more subsequent health care based on hospital readmissions or referrals to skilled nursing or home care.

Mowé and Bøhmer (1991) studied 121 hospitalized, older patients in Norway. Using anthropometric data (height, weight, triceps skinfold, and midarm circumference measurements), they determined that more than 50 percent of the patients had proteinenergy undernutrition. No patients had been given a diagnosis of malnutrition, only a few were characterized

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

as malnourished, and only two of the most undernourished patients received nutrition support while they were in the hospital.

A sample of 250 older patients, admitted to a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital was studied prospectively beginning at hospital admission (Sullivan et al., 1989). A medical and nutritional profile was developed based on information extracted from each patient’s chart. This included admitting diagnosis, secondary diagnoses, laboratory values at admission or when first obtained in the hospital, and the physician’s and dietitian’s work-up. Patients were classified as low risk (44 percent of patients), moderate risk (24 percent), and very high risk (15 percent) of having protein–energy undernutrition, based on serum albumin, total lymphocyte count, and weight for height or body mass index. The rest of the patients (17 percent) had so little data that nutritional status could not be determined. During the entire study period only 36 percent of the study patients and 44 percent of the at-risk patients received a formal evaluation by a dietitian. Dietary intake data for the patients at risk were questionable and nurses reported having inadequate time to monitor nutrient intakes. Patients at risk for proteinenergy undernutrition were significantly older and had longer hospital stays.

The most commonly cited reason that nutrition problems are not addressed in the hospital is lack of education or understanding of the importance of nutrition by physicians (Burns and Jensen, 1995; Mowé and Bøhmer, 1991; Sullivan et al., 1989).

EFFECTS OF UNDERNUTRITION ON FUNCTIONAL STATUS IN THE ELDERLY

In 1994, more than one-third of the admissions to nonfederal acute care, short-stay hospitals were for people at least 65 years old. Functional status in the elderly may be lost during acute care hospitalization (Sager et al., 1996). In a large study, the Hospital Outcomes Project for the Elderly, activities of daily living such as bathing and dressing, deteriorated significantly between baseline admission to an acute care hospital and discharge. Forty-one percent of the older individuals were reported to have a continued decline in functional status 3 months after hospitalization; they were unable to recover from hospital-acquired disabilities and had developed additional ones since discharge (Riedinger and Robbins, 1998). The functional decline was attributed to the illness, medical and surgical treatment, and adverse events associated with hospitalization, such as drug events and bed rest or reduced mobility (Sager et al., 1996). Older patients often enter the hospital in an undernourished state which is then exacerbated by changes in diet or inadequate intake as the patient

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

undergoes various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (Palmer et al., 1998; Riedinger and Robbins, 1998).

FUTURE AREAS FOR RESEARCH

Although the optimal method for identification of undernutrition in hospitalized older people has not been determined, the methods currently employed lack validity and are cumbersome and resource intensive. Additional research needs to be conducted in this area.

SUMMARY

Acute care hospitalizations are associated with a decline in functionality of older people. Poor nutritional status at admission and inadequate nutrient intake during hospitalization may contribute to this decline. Evidence in the literature indicates that identification and intervention for nutrition problems in older patients may be inadequate. Education in the hospital setting is often limited to teaching patients “survival skills” and referring them to the ambulatory setting for additional counseling. However, lack of reimbursement in ambulatory settings limits the resources available to people once they have been discharged from the hospital. Hospital dietitians often provide guidance to home health agencies and home infusion companies who may not have adequate staffing of qualified nutrition professionals.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Current standards for screening and assessing nutritional status in hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries need to be reassessed and revised. JCAHO requirements for hospital-based nutrition screening, assessment, intervention, and surveillance warrant comprehensive review. In particular, the methods adopted by many institutions to meet 24-hour screening requirements lack validity in the identification of undernourished patients, often depend upon information that is unreliable or unavailable, and are cumbersome and resource intensive.

  • Changes in reimbursement have to be made in the ambulatory and home-health settings to provide additional nutrition resources for individuals once they have been discharged from the hospital (see chapters 11 and 12).

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×

REFERENCES

Burns JT, Jensen GL. 1995. Malnutrition among geriatric patients admitted to medical and surgical services in a tertiary care hospital: Frequency, recognition, and associated disposition and reimbursement outcomes. Nutrition 11:245–249.


Code of Federal Regulations. 1998. Health Care Financing Administration. Conditions of participation for hospitals. 42CFR482.28. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.


Duffy SQ, Farley DE. 1995. Patterns of decline among inpatient procedures. Publ Health Rep 110:674–681.


Health Care Financing Administration. 1998. Health Care Financing Review, 1998 Statistical Supplement. Baltimore, Md.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.


JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations). 1996. Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals. The Official Handbook. Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.: JCAHO.


Mowé M, Bøhmer T. 1991. The prevalence of undiagnosed protein-calorie undernutrition in a population of hospitalized elderly patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 39:1089–1092.


Palmer RM, Counsell S, Landefeld CS. 1998. Clinical intervention trials: The ACE unit. Clin Geriatr Med 14:831–849.


Riedinger JL, Robbins LJ. 1998. Prevention of iatrogenic illness: Adverse drug reactions and nosocomial infections in hospitalized older adults. Clin Geriatr Med 14:681–698.


Sager MA, Franke T, Inouye SK, Landefeld CS, Morgan TM, Rudberg MA, Siebens H, Winograd CH. 1996. Functional outcomes of acute medical illness and hospitalization in older persons. Arch Intern Med 156:645–652.

Sullivan DH, Moriarty MS, Chernoff R, Lipschitz DA. 1989. Patterns of care: An analysis of the quality of nutritional care routinely provided to elderly hospitalized veterans. J Parenter Enteral Nutr 13:249–254.


University of California at San Francisco Medical Center. 1998. Policies and Procedures for Nutrition Services. San Francisco, Calif.: University of California at San Francisco Medical Center.


Weinberger M, Ault KA, Vinicor F. 1988. Prospective reimbursement and diabetes mellitus. Impact upon glycemic control and utilization of health services. Med Care 26:77–83.

Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 163
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 164
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 165
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 166
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 167
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 168
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 169
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 170
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 171
Suggested Citation:"9 Nutrition Services in the Acute Care Setting." Institute of Medicine. 2000. The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9741.
×
Page 172
Next: 10 Nutrition Support »
The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $71.00 Buy Ebook | $54.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Malnutrition and obesity are both common among Americans over age 65. There are also a host of other medical conditions from which older people and other Medicare beneficiaries suffer that could be improved with appropriate nutritional intervention. Despite that, access to a nutrition professional is very limited.

  • Do nutrition services benefit older people in terms of morbidity, mortality, or quality of life?
  • Which health professionals are best qualified to provide such services?
  • What would be the cost to Medicare of such services? Would the cost be offset by reduced illness in this population?

This book addresses these questions, provides recommendations for nutrition services for the elderly, and considers how the coverage policy should be approached and practiced. The book discusses the role of nutrition therapy in the management of a number of diseases. It also examines what the elderly receive in the way of nutrition services along the continuum of care settings and addresses the areas of expertise needed by health professionals to provide appropriate nutrition services and therapy.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!