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Learning Collaborative
 
March 22, 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 in support the Global Malnutrition Composite Score
  • Join us for an April webinar in which we will walk through the nuts and bolts of how eCQMs work
  • This year’s National Nutrition Month® 2024 theme is "Beyond the Table"
  • Thank you to those who commented in support of adopting an expanded version of the Global Malnutrition Composite Score into the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program
  • Updated details on new reporting options for the MQii-developed food insecurity improvement activity available on the MQii website
  • Share your progress or reach out with any questions to your MQii Point of Contact
  • Please also inform us about any transitions in leadership, requested topics for future events, or additional events of interest to share with other members
 
 
 
 
 
SPOTLIGHT: OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT THE GLOBAL MALNUTRITION COMPOSITE SCORE

We need your help! To support the endorsement application for the expansion of the Global Malnutrition Composite Score's eligible patient population from age 65+ to 18+, we are requesting MQii members representing acute care hospitals complete this survey to assess the importance, usability and use, and face validity of the Global Malnutrition Composite Score (GMCS). Each of these elements is a subjective assessment by experts about the extent to which the GMCS measure is relevant to improving, provides useful information for, and reflects healthcare quality. Therefore, the goal of this survey is to collect information about subject matter experts' perspectives on the GMCS measure specifications. It will take approximately 15–20 minutes to complete the survey. Your responses will be strictly confidential and data from this research will be reported only in the aggregate.

If you have questions at any time about the survey or the procedures or need assistance with implementing the GMCS measure at your hospital, please contact Anne Coltman ( [email protected]) at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Thank you very much for your time and support.
 
 
 
 
 

WHAT'S AROUND THE CORNER?

MQii Webinar: "Decoding ECQMs: The End-to-End Process of Generating and Reporting eCQMs from your EHR" | Thursday, April 11, 2024 at 1 PM ET

Is your hospital interested in reporting the GMCS as one of your electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs)? Do you want to understand the nuts-and-bolts of how data captured in your EHR flows into calculating your measure results? Do you need help understanding which hospital departments and team members need to be involved in eCQM reporting? In this webinar we will:

  • Describe the steps of the eCQM process in the hospital from data capture to reporting
  • Explain the basics of how EHRs are set up to capture data need for the GMCS
  • Identify the key team members, departments, and roles required to ensure successful eCQM reporting
  • Discuss common challenges encountered in configuring your EHR and implementing new processes
  • Answer your questions about how to best prepare your hospital for eCQM reporting

Click here to register for the live webinar and submit your questions. If you’re unable to join us live, the webinar materials and recording will be posted to the MQii website.
 
 
 
 

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 MQii Project and Findings 

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

Expanded Use of the Global Malnutrition Composite Score Under Consideration 

In December of 2023, CMS released the 2023 Measures Under Consideration (MUC) List of quality measures being considered for adoption into its payment programs and offered a comment period for public input on the list. As the MQii team previously shared, one of the included measures was an updated version of the GMCS that assesses care provided to all adults, rather than just those above age 65. Thank you to those who submitted comments in support of this expanded version of the GMCS! If CMS agrees that expanding the GMCS age range is beneficial to the program, they will propose the update in the FY 2025 Proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule, which we expect to be released in April. The proposed rule is another opportunity for your organization to submit comments to CMS in support of the GMCS. Stay tuned for updates!
 
 
 
 

NUTRITION IN THE NEWS

National Nutrition Month® 2024 

March is National Nutrition Month® 2024. National Nutrition Month® is an annual campaign established in 1973 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. According to the Academy, “this year's theme is "Beyond the Table," which addresses the farm-to-fork aspect of nutrition, from food production and distribution to navigating grocery stores and farmers markets — and even home food safety and storage practices. It also describes the various ways we eat — not only around a dinner table, but also on the go, in schools and restaurants, at games and events. This theme also includes sustainability, for instance, decreasing food waste from school and work to home and beyond.” See the Academy’s website for a variety of campaign resources. You can also find Nutrition Resources for Patients & Caregivers and Courses and Certificates of Training on the Abbott Nutrition Health Institute website.
 
 
 
 

Learning Collaborative Member Resources and Recognition

New Improvement Activity and MIPS Value Pathways Information on the MQii Website

As shared in the December 2023 Dish newsletter, CMS expanded the inclusion of the MQii-developed Improvement Activity “Implement Food Insecurity and Nutrition Risk Identification and Treatment Protocols” (IA_AHE_9) in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Now, IA_AHE_9 is included in 7 MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs), a newer reporting option that include an aligned subset of measures and activities tailored to certain specialties or medical conditions. The MQii team has updated the MIPS Resources page to reflect these changes and provide an overview of this reporting option.

NFPE: Putting it All Together

According to the recent publication in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, RDNs should consider incorporating the AAIM (Academy/ASPEN indicators to diagnosis malnutrition) tool into their nutrition assessments to accurately evaluate malnutrition and to guide their practice. As a reminder, the AAIM criteria consists of assessing for muscle loss, subcutaneous fat loss, weight loss, inadequate energy intake, reduced functional status, and fluid accumulation. Utilizing the AAIM criteria to identify malnutrition in adults, the results of the study showed a higher incidence of emergency room visits and hospital readmissions for patients identified with severe malnutrition, and longer hospital stay and greater healthcare resource utilization for patients identified with moderate malnutrition. The predictive validity also indicated a simplified AAIM tool supports the identification of malnutrition. The simplified AAIM tool consists of four of the six malnutrition indicators - muscle loss, subcutaneous fat loss, weight loss, inadequate energy intake. To read the full manuscript, please visit https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523663452.

The results of the AAIM study highlights the importance of RDNs being comfortable and confident in performing the NFPE to be able to evaluate all the criteria available to assess for malnutrition.

To learn more about how to obtain NFPE skills and the Academy’s Live Virtual NFPE Hands-on Training Workshops, visit www.eatrightpro.org/nfpe or email [email protected].
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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