Benefits of dietitian home visits

Abstract

The home health-care client's nutrition needs have increased because of the acuity of his or her medical problems and nutrition-related diagnoses upon release from the hospital. In the home health-care industry, nutrition services have been addressed most often by the nursing profession and to a lesser degree by the dietetics profession. To promote dietitians' skills to a home health-care agency, benefits of nutrition services must be identified. A survey of home health-care nurses showed that 11 of 16 respondents were not confident teaching complex diets (eg, diet for diabetes). Furthermore, 5 of the 16 respondents stated that they were not qualified to teach complex diets. Home health-care nurses might require assistance by a dietitian in addressing complex nutrition issues. The client would benefit as a result of receiving comprehensive nutrition services by a trained professional. A second benefit is that reimbursement of nutrition home visits can be a source of agency revenue. The home health-care agency could also use dietitians as a marketing tool to potentially increase physician referrals. The Home Health Visiting Nurse Association generated $32,483 in agency revenue over 1 year because a dietitian was employed to provide home visits. Alliances should be formed among home health-care administrators and nursing and dietetics professionals to promote high-quality, cost-effective nutrition care for the homebound client.