From the Basement Office to Integrated Care: Transforming RDN Practice Through Collaborative Group Models

Eskenazi Health's registered dietitian nutritionist team continues to evolve as a leader in innovative nutrition practice. Eskenazi Health's 10 health center sites offer care to underserved patients of Indianapolis, who face barriers relating to the social determinants of health. Beginning in 2014, the team created successful group models for chronic disease management, demonstrating high levels of patient engagement and retention, impact on biometric outcomes, and successful behavior change.

In addition, the productivity, outcomes and addition of RDN reimbursement initiatives led to growth and expansion of RDN opportunities in the organization. Eskenazi Health Hypertension Group, developed in 2017, was recently acknowledged as a promising practice by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and earned recognition as the Transforming Vision into Action Award from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, both in 2019.

The newest initiative is integrating lifestyle medicine into primary care by infusing physicians into dietitian group models to further evolve the delivery of primary care. This development and integration of group care models, best practice in engagement, data and health record enhancements, and the role of the RDN will be shared.

CPE Level: Level 2
CPEU: 1.0

Performance Indicators

• 12.4.6 Applies and integrates the Nutrition Care Process to meet the complex needs of the target population.
• 12.5.5 Presents evaluation findings, outcomes and recommendations to stakeholders to promote change and/or substantiate program.
• 2.2.3 Identifies opportunities for shared benefit and/or vision.

Learning Objectives

• Explain the benefit of integrating dietitian services into primary care sites, listing three metrics to discuss with leadership.
• Identify three best practices shared for creating an engaging group to meet the needs of the target population.
• Explain the role of the registered dietitian in lifestyle medicine practice and identify opportunities for collaborative practice.

Speakers

• Daniel Pino
• Emily Dawkins