Since 2013, Avalere has partnered with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to implement a national initiative focused on the advancement of quality of care for malnourished patients and patients at risk of malnutrition, the Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative (MQii). This initiative has launched a number of pilots and demonstration projects across dozens of health systems centered on the adoption of 4 malnutrition-focused electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) and a malnutrition quality improvement toolkit (the MQii Toolkit) developed by Avalere and the Academy.

To showcase the varied MQii-centered efforts and successes to improve malnutrition care for patients across the US, Avalere supported the development of a special supplement of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics entitled Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative Yields Value for Interdisciplinary Patient Care and Clinical Nutrition Practice. This supplement includes 2 articles on malnutrition and public policy, 5 original research articles, and 24 research abstracts, all showcasing the various impacts that the initiative’s efforts have had on patient care and outcomes.

Of particular importance are 2 original research articles that report on the development of the tools (eCQMs and the MQii Toolkit) being adopted by the MQii Learning Collaborative that now counts over 265 hospitals among its membership. The first article, “Improving Malnutrition in Hospitalized Older Adults: The Development, Optimization, and Use of a Supportive Toolkit,” highlights the open access MQii Toolkit and how it was developed based on feedback from real-world implementation across multiple hospitals. The second, “Enhancing Identification and Management of Hospitalized Patients Who Are Malnourished: A Pilot Evaluation of Electronic Quality Improvement Measures”, reports on the development and validation of the 4 malnutrition eCQMs at a large academic medical center.

Other highlights of the supplemental edition of the journal include:

• Numerous case studies demonstrating successful quality improvement projects that leverage use of the MQii tools and report clinical process improvements
• Efforts to improve malnutrition care for patients in a long-term care facility
• Introduction to a pilot that aims to improve outcomes for malnourished patients who have transitioned out of the hospital
• New data on the impact of malnutrition as well as the impact of care improvements on patient outcomes

The supplement is being published alongside the September issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and will provide robust new research supporting the effect of malnutrition on patients, opportunities for care improvements for malnourished patients, and the impact of high-quality nutrition care on patient outcomes. The supplement will also provide guidance to providers, hospitals, health systems, and other clinical facilities looking to improve quality of care for malnourished patients and enhance patient outcomes. The supplement is open access, and all articles are available online free of charge.

Avalere developed the journal supplement in partnership with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Financial support for this work was provided by Abbott.

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