Abbott and HoSPEN introduce validated nutrition programme to Vietnam’s hospitals

Dr. Luu Ngan Tam briefs on malnutrition is common condition in hospitals

With this in mind, international and local health experts convened today to discuss recommendations and solutions to one often overlooked health issue in this age group: disease-associated malnutrition.

At the symposium, hosted by Abbott, with professional consultancy from Ho Chi Minh Society of Parenteral Enteral Nutrition (HOSPEN), experts considered how findings from new research published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality can be incorporated into Vietnamese hospital protocols.

One of the key recommendations is the creation of a formalised nutrition programme in hospitals, often called a Quality Improvement Program (QIP), which according to the recent study findings can result in patients getting home quicker, less chance of patients being re-admitted within 30 days, reduced complications in treated patients and overall lower costs.

"Malnutrition is a preventable and treatable condition, and the study shows that implementing simple processes that screen and address malnutrition immediately can be an effective practice for improving overall patient treatment in hospitals. We plan to use this as a case study for how to improve the nutrition process at various hospitals under the professional support of HOSPEN within the next two years," said Dr. Luu Ngan Tam.

QIP aims to identify impacts of prompt nutrition care on patient outcomes and healthcare costs. QIP started with the establishment of an interdisciplinary core team (QI team) that developed a system in which nurses screened for malnutrition risk at patient admission using the Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST), and immediately intervened for those at risk of malnutrition. The intervention included ordering oral nutritional supplement (ONS), specifically Abbott’s Ensure Complete, for those at-risk of malnutrition within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital, then monitored the outcomes by medication administration records.

The results of QIP came after the retrospective evaluation of nearly 20,000 patients aged from 18 to 111 years who were admitted to US hospital, Akron General Medical Center, which is part of Cleveland Clinic, between 2011 and 2013. The study found that the group that was part of the QIP had lowered 30-day readmissions probability by 17 per cent, reduced length of stay by 13.4 per cent, 50 per cent reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs) and reduced cost of care by 8.8 per cent.

Currently, QIP has been applied in 250 sites of care, 12 hospitals, with five of the nation’s 100 top hospitals.

"Good nutrition is critical to helping adults, especially those with a chronic illness, regain strength and energy. We are connecting local healthcare experts with global nutrition best practices and the latest science to help people in Vietnam live longer and better lives," Gary Fanjiang, divisional vice president of Abbott’s Nutrition Research & Development, Asia Pacific, said.