Nutrition services are an essential component of comprehensive high-quality health care throughout the lifecycle and must be patient-centered. Stable, sufficient and reliable funding is necessary for our health care system to provide access to crucial benefits. The Academy’s policy recommendations for quality health care include:
Support nutrition informatics that demonstrate return on investment for nutrition services as the implementation of the electronic health record continues to expand.
Advance federal, state and interstate policies facilitating the use of telehealth to provide nutrition care services, including to people living in rural and underserved areas.
Protect consumers by ensuring that nutrition education, counseling and interventions are delivered by qualified and competent providers.
Workforce Demand
Continue to support efforts that meet the health care needs of consumers, including a diverse health care workforce.
Provide more job opportunities for qualified nutrition professionals.
Quality Measures
Advance the Academy-led malnutrition electronic clinical quality measures and their inclusion in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Inpatient Quality Reporting Program.
Reimbursement
Support lowering health care costs through the expansion of services provided by registered dietitian nutritionists for nutrition-related chronic diseases.
