12.01.14
Illinois–based Advocate Health Care, one of the nation’s leading health systems, is embarking on a major research program with global healthcare company Abbott, Abbott Park, IL, to demonstrate how nutrition protocols can reduce both patients’ readmission rates and costs in the hospital.
The program is a collaboration between Advocate Health Care, Russell Institute for Research & Innovation at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, the Center for Applied Value Analysis (CAVA), and Abbott. The study will enroll 3,000 adult patients admitted to four Advocate hospitals, making this one of the largest U.S. studies to gather information on the effectiveness of nutrition interventions in real-world settings.
The prospective study will follow patients in real time from admission through 30 days after discharge to determine the impact rapid nutritional intervention has on decreasing 30-day readmission rates. According to the study’s design, all patients will receive nutritional screenings upon being admitted. At two of the hospitals, malnourished and those at-risk patients will quickly receive nutritional treatment (an oral nutrition supplement) 24 to 48 hours sooner than standard practice. The patients enrolled at these two hospitals will also receive additional education, a discharge nutrition care plan and post-discharge reminder calls.
The readmission rates at these two “pilot” hospitals will then be compared with the readmission rates among malnourished patients who received the current standard of care at the other two hospitals.
The impetus for this large-scale study is the need to accelerate the adoption of effective nutrition practices in hospitals. Today, it is estimated that up to 50% of patients are either malnourished or at risk for malnutrition when they enter the hospital and many will experience a nutritional decline during their stay.
Although numerous studies link the effective treatment of malnutrition in hospitals with 14% fewer overall medical complications and a 28% drop in avoidable hospital readmissions, hospitals are only now starting to recognize the impact in reducing healthcare costs and avoidable hospital readmissions.
“A large-scale study of this kind will help show the real health outcomes that nutrition can have for patients in the hospital,” said Robert H. Miller, PhD, divisional vice president, R&D, Scientific and Medical Affairs, at Abbott Nutrition. The study’s findings will be released in 2015.
The program is a collaboration between Advocate Health Care, Russell Institute for Research & Innovation at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, the Center for Applied Value Analysis (CAVA), and Abbott. The study will enroll 3,000 adult patients admitted to four Advocate hospitals, making this one of the largest U.S. studies to gather information on the effectiveness of nutrition interventions in real-world settings.
The prospective study will follow patients in real time from admission through 30 days after discharge to determine the impact rapid nutritional intervention has on decreasing 30-day readmission rates. According to the study’s design, all patients will receive nutritional screenings upon being admitted. At two of the hospitals, malnourished and those at-risk patients will quickly receive nutritional treatment (an oral nutrition supplement) 24 to 48 hours sooner than standard practice. The patients enrolled at these two hospitals will also receive additional education, a discharge nutrition care plan and post-discharge reminder calls.
The readmission rates at these two “pilot” hospitals will then be compared with the readmission rates among malnourished patients who received the current standard of care at the other two hospitals.
The impetus for this large-scale study is the need to accelerate the adoption of effective nutrition practices in hospitals. Today, it is estimated that up to 50% of patients are either malnourished or at risk for malnutrition when they enter the hospital and many will experience a nutritional decline during their stay.
Although numerous studies link the effective treatment of malnutrition in hospitals with 14% fewer overall medical complications and a 28% drop in avoidable hospital readmissions, hospitals are only now starting to recognize the impact in reducing healthcare costs and avoidable hospital readmissions.
“A large-scale study of this kind will help show the real health outcomes that nutrition can have for patients in the hospital,” said Robert H. Miller, PhD, divisional vice president, R&D, Scientific and Medical Affairs, at Abbott Nutrition. The study’s findings will be released in 2015.