The 35th congress of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN), held in Leipzig (Germany), saw the Irish Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (IrSPEN) announced as the winner of the 2013 Medical Nutrition International Industry (MNI) grant; an award given to the most innovative, national initiative to fight malnutrition in Europe.
The grant of €30,000 was awarded to the IrSPEN in recognition of their ‘groundbreaking’ and collaborative approach to bring to the attention of policy makers as caregivers, the costly but preventable problem of malnutrition within the Irish healthcare system.
Their entry, submitted by Niamh Rice and Julie Dowsett, for and on behalf of the board of IrSPEN, built a compelling and evidenced-based consensus for a national strategy to fight malnutrition in an economic crisis; the submission followed a methodical, step-by-step approach that: determined the scale of the problem, built awareness around it and then delivered a tailored solution that identified significant cost savings.
One of the important elements of the IrSPEN entry was to reverse the plans of the Irish Government’s cost cutting programme to remove oral nutritional support (ONS) from reimbursement. With the support of key international experts and a leading Irish health economist, IrSPEN demonstrated that removing ONS from reimbursement would not only have a deleterious impact on patient care, but it would also cost the Irish health service millions in order to address malnutrition, which is a major public health concern.
As an initial step, IrSPEN undertook data collection on the prevalence of malnutrition and its associated costs. Independent data revealed almost 10% of the Irish health budget – approximately €1.42 billion – to be the estimated cost of malnutrition; to heighten awareness of the issue, IrSPEN undertook a publicity campaign bringing the issue to front of mind of health care givers and the public. IrSPEN also identified that inadequate doctor’s training is detrimental to patient care and made recommendations accordingly; IrSPEN subsequently made doctor training a key strategic aim and have since delivered key training modules on malnutrition with the endorsement of the Royal College of Physicians.
Speaking from the ‘Fight Against Malnutrition’ Symposium at ESPEN where the grant was awarded, Professor Pierre Singer, Chairman of ESPEN’s Executive Committee, commented: “The submission by IrSPEN demonstrated an evidence-based approach into tackling the situation in Ireland. What’s more, they delivered a sound solution to reducing costs, in what is considered one of the most financially challenging situations in recent memory.”
Michel Gardet, Chairman of MNI, stated: “Thanks to the efforts of IrSPEN, Ireland’s methods can potentially provide a great template for other nations. We really hope this grant will enable the team to continue their important work.”
Following the announcement, Niamh Rice commented on behalf of IrSPEN: “We are incredibly proud and thankful to all our local partners who helped us achieve this award, particularly the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Association and the Irish Society of Gastroenterology, but also to our international colleagues in BAPEN and ESPEN, without whom we could not have produced the local evidence base and economic modelling so quickly. The issue of malnutrition isn’t always a ‘fashionable’ subject so it’s not always top of mind for healthcare providers. However, the cost saving figures in our submission speak for themselves and, in times of austerity, our entry clearly demonstrates that stopping oral nutritional support has a detrimental effect on healthcare budgets, not to mention on patient care.”
Cost Savings – Key findings
One in three patients admitted to Irish hospitals are at risk of malnutrition, thereof over 75% at high risk. At any time, more than 140,000 adults in Ireland are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, half are over 65 years of age. The vast majority of malnourished patients are living in the community, most often not being diagnosed. Total healthcare costs of malnutrition in Ireland are estimated at €1.4billion per annum. It is estimated that the number of inpatient bed days, arising from longer length of stay due to malnutrition, exceed 250,000 per year. Malnourished people have been shown to incur, on average, double the healthcare costs of non-malnourished people in the year following diagnosis.
‘That said, we appreciate that this award comes at the beginning of a long process and we plan to strive for continued compulsory nutritional screening in all hospitals and primary care setting, across Ireland. We also see nutritional training for healthcare workers, such as doctors and specialist registrars, as a priority; the early identification of malnutrition is essential to prevent it from worsening to a state where it becomes almost untreatable. We are delighted to receive this grant from MNI and look forward to utilising it to further educate our fellow peers and colleagues in ways to reduce the incidence of malnutrition.’
The recognition of malnutrition continues to increase across Europe and it is now believed to be more prevalent than obesity. The costs associated with malnutrition in Europe amount to a staggering €170 billion each year. More information on this topic is accessible in the Dossier “Oral Nutritional Supplements” (please see:http://www.medicalnutritionindustry.com/mni-publications/).
No comments:
Post a Comment