Advancing Malnutrition Quality Improvement and Health Equity: Opportunities to Lead Change

Program Date: 8 October 2022
Publication Date: 23 March 2023
Continuing Education Units: Nurse Contact: 1.0; Dietitian CPEU: 1.0

Course Description:

In this course, the faculty will identify the role of malnutrition and quality care in health policy strategies; establish how the Global Malnutrition Composite Score (GMCS) measure can help RDN leaders to integrate quality improvement into nutrition care; and describe the impact of nutrition quality measures within health systems seeking to improve health outcomes and address social determinants of health. This program was originally presented live at the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo on October 8, 2022.

Course Objectives:

• Identify the role of malnutrition and quality care in health policy strategies for the advancement of health equity within healthcare and community settings. 
• Establish how the Global Malnutrition Composite Score (GMCS) measure can help RDN leaders to integrate quality improvement into nutrition care and assist in addressing health disparities and equity. 
• Describe the impact of nutrition quality measures within health systems seeking to improve health outcomes and address social determinants of health.
  • CDR Level: 2
  • Performance Indicators: 3.2.8, 8.2.3, 12.1.1
  • Run Time: 44

Course Instructor Bio(s)

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Mary Pittman, DrPH

President and CEO 
Public Health Institute 
Oakland, CA, USA
Mary A. Pittman, DrPH, is Chief Executive Officer and President of the Oakland-based Public Health Institute (PHI), one of the country’s largest and oldest independent non-profit public health organizations. At PHI and throughout her career, she has been a nationally recognized leader in improving community health, safety net, and Medicaid provision of care for vulnerable populations, addressing health inequities, building the public health workforce, and promoting prevention. Her significant experience in both public health and health care settings has made her an expert and adviser in the field of population health, and a leader in efforts to re-vision how diverse stakeholders can work together to build healthier communities, stronger hospitals, and public health systems, and more strategic investments in community health. Under her leadership, PHI has expanded its global workforce and portfolio, focused on gender and racial equity and inclusion, increased its policy and advocacy work, strengthened its research portfolio, launched a Population Health Innovation Lab providing technical assistance, expanded support of cancer research and support of children's cancer clinical trials, and deepened its organizational focus on using a health equity lens to build power and engage communities in addressing disparities. Recently PHI, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and numerous philanthropies, has been instrumental in building an agile and diverse workforce for COVID-19 related work, supporting community-based organizations, local public health agencies, and schools, and building strong community partners to respond to COVID and other health issues. International work on COVID has focused on building partnerships, technical assistance, and specialized services to bolster epidemiology and surveillance, clinical training and interventions, and education. PHI engaged and scaled rapidly to address COVID, which has broadened its reach and contributed, in part, to PHI's doubling in size over the last year and a half, and given the organization national recognition for its ability to address community-level needs. During her tenure, PHI has been recognized each of the three times it applied as one of the 50 best nonprofit places to work in the nation. In 2021 Mary was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the Top 25 Women Leaders and one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.
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Dana Buelsing Sowards, MS, CAPM

Director, Practice Competence 
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 
Chicago, IL, USA
Dana Buelsing Sowards, MS, CAPM, LSSGB is the Manager of Quality Standards Operations at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She works closely on practice resources for credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners. These include the Academy Scope of Practice, Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional Performance, Definition of Terms, Practice Tips, Case Studies, Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative (MQii), and related learning modules. Dana has a MS in Public Service Management with an emphasis on Health Care Administration from DePaul University. She also obtained the credential Certified Associate in Project Management from the Project Management Institute and has a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
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Phillip Brown, MD

Chief Community Impact Officer 
Novant Health 
Wilmington, NC, USA

Dr Philip Brown serves as Executive Vice-President and Chief Physician Executive at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina. Living and practicing in his hometown, Dr Brown has enjoyed the privilege of serving his community as a General and Vascular Surgeon since 2004. Dr Brown completed medical school and general surgery residency at Brody School of Medicine in Greenville, North Carolina prior to his Vascular Fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He has served in numerous leadership positions including present service as Co-Director of The North Carolina Medical Society Foundation’s Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership. 

Dr Brown, his wife Christy, and their two children are living testaments to what it means to serve others and are strongly rooted in the Wilmington community. In his role as Chief Physician Executive, Dr Brown leads the health equity strategic initiative at NHRMC. As such, he is charged with leading highly effective teams that identify health disparities within the community and work to eliminate them through data collection and stratification, innovative healthcare redesign, and alignment of community partnerships. Under his leadership, the Food Strategy team has been able to begin breaking down the barriers associated with food insecurity across the continuum of care.

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Gisele Leger, MS, RD

National Director, Clinical Nutrition 
Morrison Healthcare 
Southborough, MA, USA

As the National Director of Clinical Nutrition at Morrison Healthcare since 2015, Gisele Leger directs the development, implementation, and maintenance of clinical nutrition programs and services according to current trends and marketplace demand. She leads a team of division directors and regional clinical nutrition managers that support over 3000 RDNs and NDTRs at over 900 facilities nationwide. Ms. Leger has authored and co-authored various peer-reviewed manuscripts on clinical management topics such as staffing management, productivity benchmarks, and malnutrition coding. She is very active in her professional association, both at the state and national levels. She is a former Massachusetts Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics Association (MAND) President. She has also held various positions with the MAND, such as Secretary, Director of Member Communications, and Reimbursement Representative. She currently serves as the Past-Chair for the Clinical Nutrition Management Dietetic Practice Group and has held previous positions with this DPG, such as Secretary and Fundraising Chair. 

She received a Master of Science in Nutrition and a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from l’Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada. She completed her dietetic internship at Dr George L Dumont Hospital in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. She is a board-certified Nutrition Support Clinician and a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Abbott Nutrition’s Provider Statement for Nursing CEs:

Abbott Nutrition Health Institute is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the California Board of Registered Nursing Provider #CEP 11213.

Abbott Nutrition’s Statement for Dietitian CPEUs:

This educational activity has been prior-approved by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR credentialed practitioners will receive the specified continuing professional education units (CPEUs) for completion of this program/material.

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