02/03/98 Statement of the American Dietetic Association: Proposed HCFA Regulations

Statement of the American Dietetic Association: Proposed HCFA Regulations

February 2, 1998

Every patient who enters one of our nation's hospitals today has the opportunity to receive the highest quality nutritional care. Unfortunately, under regulation modifications recently proposed by the Health Care Financing Administration, the quality of that care could suffer, putting patients at risk.

HCFA's proposed regulations would eliminate a long-standing Medicare requirement that qualified dietitians serve as members of hospital staffs or, at a minimum, be available as professional consultants. Existing regulations guarantee that the nutrition services at hospitals are provided by nutrition professionals. Eliminating this requirement could encourage hospitals to abolish staff positions for dietitians, or to shift responsibilities to other, less qualified providers. If this occurs, patient care could suffer greatly.

Research clearly indicates that nutrition services--medical nutrition therapy--provided by qualified nutrition professionals, such as registered dietitians, is cost-effective and improves patient outcomes.

Doctors, nurses, dietitians and a host of other health professionals all make important and distinct contributions to patient care. However, only dietitians have the expertise necessary to thoroughly manage the complex area of nutrition science. With bachelors, masters, or doctoral degrees plus extensive internships and certification requirements, they have at least five years of training specifically devoted to nutrition--more than any other group in the health care system. Doctors and nurses depend on dietitians as an integral part of the health care team to manage the nutritional treatment of each patient.

The American Dietetic Association supports the need for regulations that focus on the patient and patient outcomes, but urges HCFA to do nothing that would compromise the quality of nutritional care a patient receives.

For more information, contact ADA's office of government affairs, 202/775-8277.

For further information, see HCFA Actions