Date of Award

1-1-2022

Embargo Period

4-22-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Health Administration

College

College of Health Professions

First Advisor

Abby Swanson Kazley

Second Advisor

Dunc Williams

Third Advisor

Melissa Santoro

Abstract

Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) can reduce costs related to medication, physician utilization, and hospital admissions in addition to improving patient clinical outcomes (Morris et al., 2017). MNT can be a cost-effective way to manage co-morbidities and prevent or delay the progression of chronic disease(s) (Morris et al., 2017). While registered dietitians have always played a vital role in the health of their patients, reimbursement for medical nutrition therapy services is limited. During a patient’s hospital admission, dietitians prescribe nutrition interventions and implement a plan of care. After a patient is discharged, they often are not followed by a dietitian. Current healthcare systems lack the ability for patients to continue the reinforcement education needed to sustain nutritional improvements. The development of a comprehensive outpatient MNT center can provide patients with access to a dietitian post-discharge. Literature review consensus is favorable towards post-discharge nutrition interventions being effective at reducing unplanned readmissions, decreasing mortality rates and improving patient quality of life. Increasing patient access to MNT can not only yield profits from services rendered but, downstream the healthcare system can see positive impacts through the reduction of unplanned readmissions, costs of hospital services rendered, length of stay and Physician utilization (Briggs Early & Stanley, 2018; Toulson Davisson Correia et al., 2021).

Rights

All rights reserved. Copyright is held by the author.

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