Breast-feeding provides numerous benefits to women and their babies but support is essential. From providing anticipatory guidance during pregnancy to reaching moms during their hospital stay and checking on them at home, health care providers and peer counselors have the ability to provide parents with evidence-based information and resources to not only help them make better decisions about breast-feeding but to maintain breast-feeding — even through the challenging times.

Mobile apps and tools for providing breast-feeding support are transforming how moms receive care.  “Telelactation” allows a board-certified lactation consultant to reach moms in rural areas and also when limited time and busy lifestyles get in the way of “seeing” how a mom and her new baby are doing during this important time.

Watching the baby latch via webcam, answering questions about milk supply, and providing that “just-in-time” education all are services that can help make a difference in a mom’s breast-feeding experience. Online support groups also can connect new moms who may feel isolated during those first few weeks at home. Research in this area is growing, and it is exciting to see how it will develop. Dietitians who also are lactation consultants (a great career opportunity) or who partner with lactation consultants can take advantage of these tools and help moms — one latch at a time.

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If nutrition is a vehicle to good health, dietitians are in the driver’s seat, poised to lead consumers toward self-awareness and positive behavior change. But what road do you take? Which roads have been traveled? What are the paths to success? Where may there be roadblocks? The answer lies in the roadmap — data. By collecting and sharing data, we can build upon past success, push the profession forward, expand opportunities for registered dietitian nutritionists, improve patient outcomes, and increase funding for nutrition as a tool to prevent and manage disease.

Since 2014, the Academy’s Health Informatics Infrastructure, or ANDHII, has been promoting efficient and accurate use of the Nutrition Care Process and the Nutrition Care Process Terminology, or NCPT. ANDHII has tools for RDNs and NDTRs to input, track and report patient outcomes. Data is collected, then standardized and integrated with the NCPT, which helps streamline it for analysis and reporting. This dynamic platform offers options for researchers (such as randomization and blinding), produces data sets that can be visualized and standardized, and creates individual visit summary information that can be submitted to management teams or incorporated into electronic health records, or EHRs.

As with all data collection, patient privacy is essential. ANDHII is designed to operate within regulations governing patient privacy and does not allow entry of identifying information such as names, birthdates or insurance numbers. Rather, it provides secure storage of de-identified data for research and outcomes assessment.

Whether in private practice or as part of a health care organization, RDNs and NDTRs can enter patient data and biometrics into ANDHII and track specific metrics. Marcia Bauer, RD, CDE, LMNT, says using ANDHII allows her to be more proficient and efficient at work. “I called those responsible for making EHR changes at the facility and explained what ANDHII is and how it can be used to benefit our facility, patient care and reimbursement,” she says. “Within a short time, a link to ANDHII was added to my nutrition assessment in the EHR.” Bauer also was able to participate in a diabetes study with ANDHII which benefits her patients. If health experts can better track outcomes, they can design more effective interventions.

Long before using ANDHII, Nicole Brown, MS, RDN, LD, ACSM, EP-C, focused on measuring patient outcomes. After learning about ANDHII, she saw an opportunity to examine private practice data in her state. The Health Outcomes and the Impact of Nutrition Care for Clients of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists in Private Practice surveillance study began as a pilot and now is moving into the study phase. The study will observe current practices of a small sample of RDNs working in private practice by having them enroll in and learn to use ANDHII, then enter and track patient data. Resulting data can be reviewed to identify trends in conditions with greatest impact, conditions with room for improvement and differences in cases or care patterns that result in changes to outcomes. The number of minutes a client spends with an RDN can vary, as well as how much (if any) of that time is covered by insurance.

Collecting and reporting data on health outcomes can help support licensure and health insurance coverage. “To be able to go to an insurance company and show how positive outcomes correlate to a certain number of visits or number of minutes per visit can be of great value,” says Brown. She also points out that using ANDHII and NCPT does take practice. “We started out taking 45 minutes to enter a patient visit into ANDHII, but were able to get it down to 15 minutes.”

Time is of the essence for busy practitioners, but the benefits of using ANDHII ultimately are worthwhile. RDNs in similar practice areas can connect via dietetic practice groups and state affiliates to undertake ANDHII projects. The Academy offers training and support, and ANDHII subscriptions are available at no cost to RDNs and NDTRs.

ANDHII is currently undergoing an upgrade to enhance mobile access and navigation. With data on more than 700 unique patients and 1,200 registry visits, ANDHII is on course to achieve status as a qualified clinical data registry with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. This opens the door for interdisciplinary utilization of ANDHII as part of reporting efforts via CMS’ Quality Payment Program Framework. It also furthers opportunities for dietitians, as they are slated to be included in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System under a provision of the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (to be implemented in 2019). The timing couldn’t be better for RDNs and NDTRs to enroll in ANDHII and begin putting their mark on the future of dietetics practice.

The post Big Data Benefits: Why This Tool Could Be a Game-Changer appeared first on HealthStylz.

 

We all are users of products in our daily lives and, as health professionals, we are in the usability business — we want to create nutrition products and services that meet the needs of our patients and clients, AKA our users. It is prudent to understand how efforts can be made to test products and tools before, during and after development, yet too often this step is skipped due to the potential costs, both in time and money, of conducting usability testing.

While there are businesses and experts that specialize in doing this type of testing both onsite at organizations and at independent testing facilities, there are resources that can be utilized by anyone interested in gathering feedback on a website, app, software program, training, etc. Usability.Gov offers templates and downloadable tools, and there are other online tools that allow for setting up remote usability testing, which translates into reaching users where they are.

By taking the time to “see” users engage in actions and tasks, such as entering daily food intake into an app that is being developed, it can help us see where the trouble areas are and where the user gets frustrated. This makes our end-product not only a better experience for the user, but a better value for our hard work.

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Applying best practices and reaching new standards of nutrition communications through technology in the public health and community nutrition setting is more than my job — is it is my passion.

From teaching and training dietetic interns to consulting in the area of social media, I have had the opportunity to work with dietitians and other public health professionals to address the question of not just whether to use social media and IT tools, but how to use them and to what benefit.

RDNs Can Navigate for the Public

Registered dietitian nutritionists today have the exciting opportunity to be the hub of the communication network that connects the public to nutrition and health services. In order to do that, time must be spent researching, understanding and practicing with apps, gadgets, widgets and websites. A search of the Internet for health information produces an overwhelming number of results (not all of it accurate or evidence-based); RDNs can help clients navigate this sea of information. Or, even better, RDNs can become technology content developers and curators so that nutrition experts have a stronger voice in the media landscape.

So, where to begin? Besides keeping up on The Feed, spend time reviewing the social media best practices tools from the Mayo Clinic or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Search out registered dietitian nutritionists on social media channels, podcasts and blogs. Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Healthy Nutrition Academy' site, eatrightPRO. Listen to the conversation and decide where and when you want to join in. Just like other aspects of our personal and professional lives, it starts with small steps.

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