Each year, some 400,000 patients in the U.S. receive home parenteral and enteral nutrition (HPEN), and that number is expected to grow as the population ages, the malnutrition epidemic becomes greater, and the push to improve nutrition to improve patient outcomes increases, says Noreen Luszcz, MBA, RD, CNSC,the national nutrition program director for Option Care, a home infusion provider for adult and pediatric patients.
The right physician advisor can be an ally for case managers, helping to improve communication and cooperation with physicians, bolstering compliance efforts, and helping to avoid delays in care that can keep patients from moving seamlessly through the system.
