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Learning Collaborative
 
June 7th, 2024
 
 
The Dish
The Dish provides a quarterly update to stakeholders who are subscribed to receive updates about the MQii Learning Collaborative.
 
 

At a Glance

  • New opportunity to complete a survey to provide input on future topics for MQii Office hours sessions
  • The GMCS expansion to all adults 18 and older has been proposed for the inclusion in the Hospital IQR Program and is still available for comment until June 10th
  • Share your progress or reach out with any questions to the MQii mailbox
  • Please also inform us of requested topics for future events or events of interest to share with other members
 
 
 
 
 
SPOTLIGHT: MQii VIRTUAL "OFFICE HOUR" SESSIONS

Over the next several months, Avalere will host a series of virtual “office hours” sessions where will highlight hospitals who are making improvements in their malnutrition care workflow, discuss the upcoming GMCS reporting cycle and future measure changes, and answer your questions live. We want to make these sessions as interactive as possible and ensure that lessons learned are spread across the collaborative. Dates, times, and details on how to participate are coming soon. In the meantime, we would appreciate hearing from you on the topics and questions you would like addressed, as well as any malnutrition quality improvement experiences you would be willing to share with others. Take a moment to fill out this  survey  to let us know your thoughts.
 
 
 
 
 

WHAT'S AROUND THE CORNER?
 
 
 
 

Learn and Network at Upcoming Conferences

View additional upcoming external events (such as conferences and webinars) on our MQii Learning Collaborative calendar.

Consider Opportunities to Share Your Malnutrition Quality Improvement Experiences

The following list of conferences may be of interest to you or your team. We encourage you to look at the event websites, review submission criteria, and consider sharing your research with various audiences. Please reach out with any questions or for assistance in pulling together submission materials.
 
 
 
 
 

NUTRITION POLICY UPDATE

GMCS Expansion Included in 2024 IPPS Proposed Rule

CMS recently released the FY 2025 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Proposed Rule, which includes recommendations for quality measures for future years of the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program. We are pleased to share that expansion of the Global Malnutrition Composite Score (GMCS) to include adults aged 18 and older has been proposed for inclusion in the Hospital IQR Program beginning with the calendar year 2026 reporting period. The MQii team from Avalere and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics would like to express our appreciation to the MQii member hospitals who contributed to this milestone by sharing data, providing guidance, and submitting supportive comments to the Partnership for Quality Measurement committee.

You can help ensure that this expansion is finalized by submitting supportive comments to CMS by June 10th to CMS 

When submitting comments, we recommend that you:
  • Thank CMS for proposing the expansion to ages 18+ for the GMCS
  • Recommend that CMS accelerate their proposed timeline by implementing the expansion beginning with CY 2025 reporting rather than the proposed CY 2026
  • If applicable, describe your hospital’s malnutrition care process for adult patients and how you are already delivering this care to all adult patients, so the expansion is not expected to result in any additional reporting burden for your institution
To submit comments by the June 10th deadline, please visit the comment letter submission form on regulations.gov to post your comments or attach a formal letter document. We appreciate your continued support of the GMCS to benefit patient malnutrition care.

The GMCS is not the only malnutrition-related measure in this year’s hospital inpatient proposed rule. CMS is also proposing to adopt two measures with direct impact to malnutrition care: the Age-Friendly Hospital structural measure and the risk-adjusted Hospital Harm: Falls with Injury electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM). The Age-Friendly Hospital measure, which is proposed as a mandatory measure beginning with calendar year 2025, requires hospitals to attest to a set of performance elements across five domains focused on best practices in geriatric care. One of the elements requires that the hospital screens patients age 65 and older “for risks regarding mentation, mobility, and malnutrition using validated instruments ideally upon admission, before major procedures, and/or upon significant changes in clinical status” and that positive screening for malnutrition results in “implementing nutrition plans where appropriate. These plans should be included in discharge instructions and communicated to post-discharge facilities.” The Hospital Harm – Falls with Injury eCQM measures the rate of patient falls in the inpatient setting that result in moderate to major injury. To ensure that hospitals who care for sicker and more complex patients are not penalized, the measure is risk-adjusted, with present-on-admission malnutrition or weight loss identified as one of the risk factors included in the risk-adjustment model. CMS is proposing the inclusion of this eCQM in the set of measures from which hospital can self-select to meet reporting requirements, beginning with calendar year 2026 reporting.

Your hospital may choose to comment on these additional proposals as well to show overall support for elevating the importance of quality malnutrition care in the hospital.
 
 

NUTRITION RESEARCH

Recent Publications

We are sharing several recent publications and blogs relevant to malnutrition, nutrition care processes, and quality improvement:
 
 

NUTRITION IN THE NEWS

Study Shows Gap in Current Medical Nutrition Education 

A study from the University of Georgia found that current medical nutrition education reinforces stereotypes linking weight and health. The study states that medical education today places an emphasis on BMI as a health metric, often at the expense of measures of cardiometabolic health, such as blood pressure and insulin resistance.

Studies such as this further show the need for measures, such as the GMCS, to effectively identify malnutrition.
 
 
 
 

Learning Collaborative Member Resources and Recognition

*NEW* Mentorship for Quality in Nutrition and Dietetics Program 

Applications for the Mentorship for Quality in Nutrition and Dietetics Program will be open from June 1 to June 30, 2024. This nationwide mentorship program focuses on supporting practitioners in the implementation of continuous quality improvement projects. For more information, please visit the Program Guide. If you meet the requirements and wish to apply as a mentor or mentee, click here to apply.

Quality Management in Nutrition and Dietetics

Quality Management is a continuous and ongoing systematic process. Nutrition and Dietetics Credentialed Practitioners can play a vital role in quality management and process improvement across all practice areas, and it can be both a practice area and a career path for these professionals. Find more information and NEW resources on how to be more active in the quality arena, visit the Demonstrate Quality Care newly revised webpage www.cdrnet.org/quality.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Offers Support for Quality Management, GMCS, NCP and Interoperability

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Quality, Interoperability, and Standards Team is available to support any quality improvement needs. For general quality management and process improvement questions, including implementation of the Global Malnutrition Composite Score, visit www.cdrnet.org/quality, www.cdrnet.org/GMCS, or email [email protected]. For information on interoperability, including what it means for the nutrition and dietetics profession and CDR-led efforts, visit www.cdrnet.org/ interoperability-health-information-standards or email [email protected]. When implementing the Nutrition Care Process and Terminology, find information and the latest regarding updates on www.cdrnet.org/nutrition-care-process-and-terminology or email [email protected].
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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