Using a public hospital funding model to strengthen a case for improved nutritional care in a cancer setting.

Conclusions. Early identification of malnutrition may expedite appropriate nutritional management and improve patient outcomes in addition to contributing to casemix-based reimbursement funding for health services. A successful business case for additional clinical resources to improve nutritional care was aided by demonstrating the link between malnutrition screening, hospital reimbursements and improved nutritional care. What is known about the topic? It is known that between 20 and 50% of hospital patients are malnourished and oncology patients are 1.7 times more likely to be malnourished than are other hospitalised patients. Despite the existence of practice guidelines for malnutrition screening of at-risk oncology patients, these are not routinely implemented. Identification of malnutrition in hospitalised patients is linked to casemix funding via DRG. Casemix reimbursement for malnutrition can be enhanced if: (1) malnutrition risk is identified; (2) malnutrition is diagnosed; (3) the word 'malnutrition' and an associated action plan is documented in the medical record; and (4) malnutrition is recognised and recorded by the clinical coder. Amendments to the ICD-10-AM in 2008 allowing malnutrition to be recognised as a complication for coding when it is documented by a dietitian in the medical history has hospital reimbursement implications for dietetic practice. Reimbursement potential for malnutrition has been calculated in public hospitals in Australia with varying res...
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research