Center of Excellence in Nutrition and Dietetics Designation

The Center of Excellence in Nutrition and Dietetics Designation is more than a certificate. It is a powerful statement of leadership, innovation and impact. This prestigious recognition celebrates organizations that set the gold standard in advancing nutrition and dietetics through evidence-based programs, cutting-edge services and transformative initiatives.

With criteria that can be applied broadly to a variety of practice areas, earning this designation promotes the organization's commitment to elevating the nutrition and dietetics profession, empowering credentialed practitioners as trusted experts, and driving measurable outcomes that improve health and well-being.

It's not just about meeting criteria—it's about shaping the future of nutrition care and standing out as a beacon of quality and expertise in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

The designation, given for five years, raises visibility for the work of RDNs/NDTRs and their organization, highlighting their exceptional achievements among a broad audience. This designation can contribute to confidence in their practice, resulting in credibility for the organization.

Center of Excellence organizations earn a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners to the organization, and generate valuable metrics including benchmark data, best practices and quality outcomes in their organizations.

The Academy will only accept the first 10 organizations that apply each quarter. Each year, the application will be open in January, April, July and October. The next application cycle begins April 1, 2026.

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact Quality Management.

Introduction to the Designation Program

Four Domains to the Centers of Excellence

This recognition program is comprised of four domains:

Quality of Leadership | Quality of Practice | Quality of Organization | Quality of Outcomes

Each domain has criteria developed to highlight the value of credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners and ensure the demonstration of quality of service provided by the nutrition and dietetics professionals.

The nature of the domain criteria is detail-oriented, allowing organizations and their leadership to determine opportunities for improvement and formulate action plans and long-term strategic plans to ensure excellence is at the forefront of all they do.

Designation Fees

To support the designation process, three fees are required:

• Application Fee: Covers the administrative review of submitted materials and initiates the formal evaluation process. This fee, due with application, is standard and applies to all organizations no matter the size.
• Appraisal Fee: Supports the in depth assessment of documentation and verification of criteria by qualified reviewers. This fee, due with submission, is applied in a scalable manner based on organization size.
• Annual Maintenance Fee: Supports ongoing program operations and sustains continued recognition by distributing the overall cost across the five year designation period. The fee is due annually for years 2-5.

All fees are shown in the table below.

Disclaimer

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Center for Excellence in Nutrition and Dietetics designation recognizes organizations that demonstrate exemplary leadership, quality management, outcomes, organizational structure and practice within the field of nutrition and dietetics.

This designation is not a healthcare referral service, clinical performance rating or endorsement of any organization's specific medical, nutrition or dietetics services. It is solely a recognition that an organization has met the Academy's established standards of excellence, designed to elevate and support the work of credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners.

Earning the designation does not indicate whether an organization is accepting patients, participating in insurance plans or providing services covered by any payer.