Home-Delivered Meals: Evidence, Impact and the Role of the RDN

We will address social determinants of health and specifically home delivered meals for those who are malnourished and have chronic conditions that compound health outcomes. Home delivered meals can be a covered benefit for patients after hospital discharge, discharge from skilled nursing and rehab, high-risk pregnancy and for those with disabilities or who are aging at home independently. RDNs can aid in planning appropriate next steps when food insecurity or malnutrition is identified in patients discharging from an in-patient stay or in people living in the community. RDNs may not understand the available meal benefits, options for home delivered meals, conditions that are covered and the criteria for qualification.

Meal programs and how to access these meal programs will be reviewed for managed Medicaid plans, Medicare Advantage plans, health systems, hospitals, state or federal funding sources. A detailed review of many chronic care, Medicaid and post discharge pilots and case studies will be presented showing high return on investment, lower emergency room visits, lower readmission rates, higher member engagement and improvements in overall management of chronic conditions. The moderator will address Academy & American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition malnutrition initiatives such as MQII and Malnutrition Awareness Month.

CPE Level: Level 2
CPEU: 1.0

Performance Indicators

• 3.3.3 Collaborates with customers and others to support access to services.
• 10.1.3 Works collaboratively with the interdisciplinary team (including NDTRs) to identify and implement valid and reliable nutrition screening to support access to care.
• 12.1.1 Promotes nutrition programs and resources to address issues of food security, nutritional health and overall health and wellness.

Learning Objectives

• Describe published research and case studies supporting home delivered nutrition for many patient populations aging at home; after inpatient hospitalization, rehab or skilled nursing admission; or those with chronic conditions.
• Compare various approaches to coverage of home delivered meals between payers, hospitals, health systems and other funding sources.
• Identify as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist how to discover, advocate and access a covered home-delivered meals benefit within a health system, hospital, health plan or other organization.

Speakers

• Julie Aiken
• Catherine Macpherson