“Virtual
Nutrition Counseling”
Although
classic nutrition counseling has occurred in settings like a hospital or within
a private practice, advances in technology have opened up a new arena for nutrition
counseling. New modes of correspondence with
patients include phone meetings, video chatting, public settings and even house
calls. This way of communication
benefits patients with busy schedules or who may live in remote locations. It can also benefit RDs for the same reasons.
Virtual
healthcare practices are also called telehealth and are not new within the
medical field, but are gaining popularity within the dietetic profession. Telehealth and Telenutrition have been
defined by the Academy Definitions of Terms List as:
“Telehealth is the
use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support
long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related
education, public health, and health administration. Telehealth will include
both the use of interactive, specialized equipment, for such purposes as health
promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis, consultation, therapy, and/or
nutrition intervention/plan of care, and non-interactive (or passive)
communications, over the Internet, video-conferencing, e-mail or fax lines, and
other methods of distance communications for communication of broad-based
nutrition information.
Telenutrition
involves the interactive use, by a RD or RDN, of electronic information and
telecommunications technologies to implement the Nutrition Care Process
(nutrition assessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention/plan of
care, and nutrition monitoring and evaluation) with patients or clients at a
remote location, within the provisions of their state licensure as applicable.”
Dietitians need to do their research before deciding on this career move.
Telenutrtion can result in the ability to manage more clients for a dietitian and for those patients to receive a better experience. Dietitians are able to answer quick calls from a client who just has a few questions and does not want to be scheduled for an appointment where they would be charged for much un-needed time. Making house calls means that dietitians can actually see what the client is eating and teach them how to correctly read food labels.
There are issues in this developing profession. Most insurance will not cover virtual counseling, but dietitians quoted in this article have said their clients have no problem paying for their services. HIPPA is another concern dietitians need to be aware of if consulting in public places.
Overall, I think this new area of dietetics sounds great! It allows flexibility for both the patient and dietitian. Managing our own business means we get to set the tone for the way our profession should be perceived, including the cost and value of our services.
-ER
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