ADA News and Views

8/2010 - salary info

6/1/2010
From: Patricia M. Babjak (ADA CEO)
Subject: Policy Initiatives & Advocacy 

As you know, I have been closely analyzing our Association’s capabilities and needs in the areas of public policy and advocacy. To both strengthen and broaden ADA’s efforts, I have determined that ADA needs a structure that will accomplish two distinct yet related goals:
1) Expand ADA’s advocacy and policy efforts and
2) Sustain the viability and credibility of the dietetics profession.

To accomplish these vital goals, I am pleased to announce the hiring of two new Vice Presidents to ADA’s Headquarters Team after reviewing over 50 resumes. Both are ADA members with a passion for the profession, with many years of experience working on important food, nutrition and health policy issues. They will work together to positively affect the health of all Americans through food and nutrition by actively increasing ADA’s advocacy and public policy efforts at the federal, state and local levels.

Jeanne Blankenship, MS, RD, has been named Vice President of Policy Initiatives and Advocacy;
Mary Pat Raimondi, MS, RD, has been named Vice President of Strategic Policy and Partnerships.

In addition to the talents and experience that Jeanne and Mary Pat bring to these new positions, the appointments signal a significant organizational priority shift to these key areas to fulfill ADA’s vision, mission and strategic goals.

Jeanne Blankenship is a senior dietitian at the University of California, Davis Medical Center, and a nationally known authority on women’s health issues, bariatric surgery and weight loss. She is the current chair of ADA’s Legislative and Public Policy Committee and serves as the ADA representative to the United States Breastfeeding Committee. Jeanne brings strong analytical, organizational and networking skills to the position. She has an extensive history of monitoring, evaluating, and reporting outcome data in a variety of settings and demonstrated results in developing public policy and advocacy programs. In her new position, Jeanne will focus on state government relations and on providing guidance and support to grassroots lobbying, including work with the Legislative Public Policy Committee and the ADA Political Action Committee; state/local legislative and regulatory monitoring; public policy/legislative priority development; and member grassroots programs, including leadership development. Jeanne is the current chair of the Legislative and Public Policy Committee.

Mary Pat Raimondi is program director for health and nutrition at the University of Minnesota Extension, where she helps shape the university’s federal and state legislative public policy key messages and manages multiple grants and innovative programming. She brings expertise in program management, social marketing, food and nutrition trends and policy analysis to the position. She is also a former LPPC chair and a current member of the Board of Directors and House of Delegates Leadership Team. Mary Pat brings methodical, thoughtful and strategic expertise in public policy, marketing and nutrition education to her new position. She will focus on federal government relations and lobbying, including federal regulatory relations; alliance and coalition building; public policy strategy development; and identification of new policy and program opportunities. 

Both of these remarkable RDs also possess a great deal of experience with practice issues such as clinical privileging, informatics and scope of practice.  The delineation of their job functions is attached.  I know they will work very well together, with all ADA staff and with all organizational units.  They have demonstrated skill sets in relationship building; strategic thinking and planning; and in modeling ADA’s values of collaboration and communication.  Jeanne and Mary Pat will work in close alignment as they refine the structure of the overall unit.

Jeanne will start at ADA June 7, and Mary Pat will join us later in the month.  Both Jeanne and Mary Pat will relocate to Washington, DC. The vacancies on the House Leadership Team and the Board of Directors left by Mary Pat and the Legislative and Public Policy Committee left by Jeanne will be filled by the President and Speaker of the House of Delegates.

Please join me in welcoming Jeanne and Mary Pat to ADA’s Headquarters Team!_________________________________________________________________

Is There a Registered Dietitian in Home Health? It Depends...
What is the most effective way to get registered dietitians and/or nutrition services included in home health care?
ADA has investigated the legal underpinnings requiring a "qualified dietitian" and/or "nutrition services" in home health and has conducted an analysis of federal and state regulations alike. We found there is no federal requirement for RDs in home health, but approximately one-third of states define either the "qualified dietitian" or nutrition services in their home health agency licensing rules.
A provision in the newly passed health reform law creates an opportunity for RDs to participate, but that opportunity will depend on individual RDs’ initiatives and will not occur immediately.
At the Federal Level
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulations (also known as administrative law) do not require either "qualified dietitian" or "nutrition services" in home health. Several years ago, ADA reviewed the U.S. Code, which is a compilation of all federal laws, and found neither was defined in the section of the Social Security Act that defines "home health services." ¹ ADA presented the results of this analysis to CMS in 2007. We have determined there are two possible routes to get RDs required at the national level: Get it required by an act of Congress, or
Provide data to CMS on both the benefits and the financial burden of requiring an RD in home health. How much would it cost to require coverage of nutrition services and demonstrate that such coverage keeps patients in the home longer and presents an overall savings?
CMS on its own does not typically go beyond the requirements of Congress, mainly because of budget issues
At the State Level
All states must license home health agencies that provide services to their residents. The licensed home health agency is also, if certified by CMS, allowed to bill CMS for payment for caring for its beneficiaries. ADA’s analysis of state home health regulations finds that about one-third of all states have some sort of provision for defining the "qualified dietitian" and/or nutrition services. California has a particularly strong set of regulations.²
Conclusion
The most expeditious way to get RDs and/or nutrition services included in home health care is through legislative or regulatory amendments at the state level. This is generally faster than the federal approach, although the economic climate of a particular state may have an effect.
Do you know others in your state who provide home health services? Have you reached out to your state affiliate and raised this question? ADA has posted a downloadable compilation of state home health rules on the Rules and Regulations page of Eatright.org.
Participation Under New Health Reform Law
As noted above, Congress writes laws that agencies such as CMS must implement, and CMS will not cover RDs for nutrition services without such a law. Therefore, ADA worked hard to find a way to get RDs included in home health in the comprehensive legislation that was signed in March We succeeded in obtaining a provision in the new law that allows for inclusion of RDs in a demonstration program that provides direct, home-based care. CMS demonstration  programs are studies to determine the feasibility of a service, with the hope it will be covered if the outcomes are positive.
The request for proposals for this study will not be published for more than a year. While ADA will advocate strongly for inclusion of RDs in these demonstration programs, members need to network locally with those likely to write study proposals for CMS funding.
ADA’s position is that RDs and DTRs alike should be paid to provide nutrition services such as assessments and counseling, education, surveillance, training of home health aides and other vital services. We are in close contact with CMS, and members will be kept informed on ADA’s progress in On the Pulse and at www.eatright..org/advocacy.

¹ 42 USCS §1395x(m) Definitions.
²California Code of Regulations, Title 22. Social Security, Division 5. Licensing And Certification Of Health Facilities, Home Health Agencies, Clinics, And Referral Agencies, Chapter 6. Home Health Agencies
Article 1. Definitions
22 CCR s 74623. Dietitian.
"Dietitian" means a person registered or eligible for registration as such by the American Dietetic Association.
Article 3. Services
22 CCR s 74715. Diet Counseling Services.
(a) When an agency provides or arranges for diet counseling services, these services shall be given in accordance with the plan of treatment, and by or under the supervision of a dietitian.
(b) Diet counseling personnel duties include:
(1) Assisting the physician and other agency personnel in evaluating the dietary needs of the patient.
(2) Assisting the patient and family to understand, accept and follow dietary modifications ordered by the physician.
(3) Observing, recording and reporting to the physician and the nurse supervisor the patient's reaction to dietary treatment and any related changes in the patient's condition.
(4) Instructing, supervising or counseling other members of the health care team including, when appropriate, home health aides and family members regarding the dietary care of the patient.
(5) Participating in in-service education program

3/10/10
Journal of the American Dietetic Association Announces 2010 Cover Photo Contest!
The Journal is looking for ADA members with an eye for photography and a head for dietetics.  Beginning in March 2010, the Journal will be accepting original photographs from ADA members as part of our second annual Journal Cover Contest.  Submit one (1) original photograph representing any area of food, nutrition, or dietetics by August 30, 2010, and you could see your masterpiece on the cover of the Journal in 2011!  Finalists will be reviewed and judged using a subjective scoring grid based on creativity, image quality, representation of trends in nutrition and dietetics, and appeal to the Journal readership.  The winning entry will be voted on by you, ADA’s members, at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in November 2010. You must be an ADA member to enter the contest.  For more information and detailed contest rules, link here. 

3/5/2010
The NEW Joint Position Paper entitled Food and Nutrition Programs for Community-Residing Older Adults- Position of the American Dietetic Association, the American Society for Nutrition, and the Society for Nutrition Education is published in the March 2010 Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The Position is also published in the March 2010 Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior and is posted on the American Society for Nutrition Web site. Please share this news with your volunteer Committees.
You can access the ADA Position Paper Web site here. 
The Position is posted in the position paper collection.  You can access the paper here.
You can view the Press Release, which was released March 3^rd here.

3/1/10
Check Out the New EatRight Video Series!
In celebration of National Nutrition Month®, ADA has posted six new consumer videos here.  The first installation of the EatRight Video Series (in both English and Spanish) are 1 ½ to 3 minutes long and feature the episodes "Cutting Back on Salt in Your Diet," "Tips on Canned and Frozen Produce" and "Home Food Safety 101."
You are welcome to use the middle icon at the bottom right of the media player to share the videos:
   Click "Embed" to post episodes on a Web site, Facebook page or blog.
   Select "Feeds" to add a video to your Web browser and subscribe to the channel in RSS or iTunes.
   Click "E-mail" to send an episode privately clients, colleagues, friends or anyone interested in easy steps for incorporating nutrition health into an everyday lifestyle.
   Select "Link" for a direct URL to the videos.

11/25/2009
Click here for the voting results and outcomes from the Fall 2009 ADA House of Delegates meeting

11/23/2009
We are delighted to announce new obesity policy-related research funding opportunities, issued by NCI, NHLBI, NIDDK, NICHD, OBSSR, and CDC.   
Grant applications are encouraged that propose to:
1.     Conduct evaluation research of obesity-related “natural experiments” (defined here as research on community and other population-level policy interventions) that may affect diet and physical activity behavior, and/or
2.     Develop and/or validate relevant community-level measures (instruments and methodologies to assess the food and physical activity environments at the community level).

Additional details are available at the links below.  Note that standard receipt dates apply. (Details on due dates here:  http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm)
·         R01: Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R01)
·         R21: Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R21)
·         R03: Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R03)
Please contact us if you have additional questions!
______________________________________
Robin A. McKinnon, PhD, MPA
Health Policy Specialist
Risk Factor Monitoring and Methods Branch
Applied Research Program
Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences
National Cancer Institute
6130 Executive Blvd. MSC 7344, EPN 4028
Bethesda, MD 20892-7344
Phone: +1-301-594-3599
Fax: +1-301-435-3710
http://riskfactor.cancer.gov

11/19/2009
ADA rates meatless holiday meals - click here for details.

11/12/2009
In an effort to most effectively use public policy and advocacy to help meet ADA’s vision of optimizing the nation’s health through food and nutrition, the American Dietetic Association has taken on the challenge of assessing and refocusing our efforts in this arena. As an ADA member, your feedback is very important to this process; we would like to draw upon your knowledge, opinions and experience for guidance on the direction and effectiveness of ADA’s public policy work, at both the state and federal levels. You are invited to participate in an online survey to identify critical public policy priority areas for ADA and set the strategic direction for the Association’s advocacy efforts. 
Please click on the this link to complete a 21-question survey by Monday, November 23.   Your responses will remain confidential.

11/5/2009
Publication available:  Unintended Weight Loss in Older Adults (UWL) Evidence-Based Nutrition Practice Guideline, which is FREE to all ADA members on the Evidence Analysis Library!
The UWL guideline debuts the EAL’s first Nutrition Diagnosis recommendation - Nutrition Diagnosis of Involuntary Weight Loss. You will find additional nutrition recommendations within this guideline related to unintended weight loss in older adults which include the following topics:

• Medical Nutrition Therapy
• Instruments for Nutrition Screening
• Assessment of Food, Fluid and Nutrient Intake
• Collaboration for Modified Texture Diets
• Eating Assistance
• Monitor and Evaluate Nutritional Status
  

This guideline contains systematically developed recommendations, based on scientific evidence, and is designed to assist practitioners on the appropriate nutrition care for older adults with unintended weight loss. Members of the expert workgroup – led by Mary Ellen Posthauer, RD, CD, LD, Chair; Ronni Chernoff, PhD, RD; Krista Clark, RD, LD, CNSD; Becky Dorner, RD, LD; Charlette Gallagher-Allred, PhD, RD; and Gretchen Robinson, MS, RD, LD, FADA - with Erica Gradwell, MS, RD, lead evidence analyst, along with trained analysts extensively examined the research to develop a series of recommendations and treatment algorithms which accurately summarize this body of evidence.
The intent of ADA's guidelines is to support the integration of evidence-based dietetics practice and improve the quality of care. This guideline is one of thirteen published guidelines on the library; other guidelines include Adult Weight Management, Celiac Disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Critical Illness, Diabetes Type 1 and 2, Disorders of Lipid Metabolism, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Heart Failure, Hypertension, Oncology, Pediatric Weight Management and Spinal Cord Injury.

To visit the guidelines, go first to www.eatright.org, sign-in as an ADA member and then select the Evidence Analysis Library link in the left menu bar of the Home Page.  Once you are signed-in to the ADA Evidence Analysis Library®, select the "Guidelines" tab or find the “Unintended Weight Loss in Older Adults” link in the A-Z index.