What's happening
This bill allows certified dietitians and nutritionists to independently manage and prescribe therapeutic diets in certain healthcare facilities.
Why it matters
Empowers dietitians and nutritionists to take a more active role in patient care. by allowing them to prescribe and manage complex therapeutic diets, including enteral (tube feeding) and parenteral (IV nutrition) therapies, which had previously required physician orders.
May improve efficiency and timeliness of nutrition interventions. in healthcare settings, as dietitians and nutritionists will no longer have to wait for physician sign-off before implementing dietary changes for patients, especially those with urgent or specialized needs.
Could lead to better health outcomes for patients. by enabling nutrition experts to directly oversee and adjust nutritional therapies, potentially reducing errors or delays in care for vulnerable populations such as hospital patients and nursing home residents.
Maintains oversight and safeguards. by requiring that the facility’s medical director or governing body determines the competency of dietitians and nutritionists before they are allowed to independently manage therapeutic diets, ensuring patient safety.
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Who cares
Certified dietitians and nutritionists
The bill would authorize them to prescribe, order and manage therapeutic diets, including enteral and parenteral nutrition, in covered health care facilities when the facility determines their competency.
Hospitals, nursing homes and other covered facilities
The bill would allow these facilities to use certified dietitians and nutritionists for therapeutic diet responsibilities, including in hospital-based outpatient departments.
Facility medical directors and governing bodies
They would determine whether certified dietitians and nutritionists are competent to exercise the authority granted by the bill.
Patients receiving therapeutic diets
Their diets, including enteral and parenteral nutrition, could be prescribed and managed by certified dietitians or nutritionists whose competency the facility has determined.
Headline styles
Let Dietitians Prescribe Diets
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to higher education
- Referred to higher education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Let Dietitians Prescribe Diets
In Assembly Committee · Higher Education · Sponsor Ellen C. Jaffee
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5665
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 10, 2019
Introduced by Sen. RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the certification of dietitians and nutritionists
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 8001 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 4 to read as follows:
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a certified dietitian or certified nutritionist may prescribe, order, write, review, evaluate, monitor and manage therapeutic diets, including enteral and parenteral nutrition, in a hospital, including diagnostic center, treatment center, or hospital-based outpatient department, residential health care facility or nursing home or any other facility as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one of the public health law when competency is determined by the medical director or governing body of such facility.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11526-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the certification of dietitians and nutritionists
Purpose
To amend the Education Law to allow certified dietitians and nutrition- ists to order therapeutic diets.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill authorizes that a certified dietitian or certi- fied nutritionist may prescribe, order, write, review, evaluate, monitor and manage therapeutic diets, including enteral and parenteral nutri- tion, in a hospital or any other facility as defined in section 2800 of the public health law.
Section two of the bill establishes the effective date.
Justification
The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) issued in the Feder- al Register Volume 79, Number 91, a new rule in 2014 that permits hospi- tals to allow qualified dietitians and nutritionists to order therapeu- tic diets. According to the CMS rules dietitians and nutritionists are "the professionals who are best qualified to assess a patient's nutri- tional status and to design and implement a nutritional treatment plan in consultation with the patient's interdisciplinary care team." In addition, the CMS rules state that the qualified dietitian or nutrition- ist "must be viewed as an integral member of the hospital interdiscipli- nary care team, one who as the team's clinical nutrition expert is responsible for a patient's nutritional diagnosis and treatment in light of a patient's medical diagnosis." The CMS rule further states that "we consider all patient diets to be therapeutic in nature, regardless of the modality used to support the nutritional needs of the patient and that the term would most certainly include parenteral and enteral nutri- tion support".
The current scope of practice for certified dietitians and certified nutritionists does not specifically allow for the ordering of therapeu- tic diets. Language is needed to allow New York State to deliver nutri- tion care via therapeutic diets through recognized dietetic and nutri- tion professionals in a manner deemed as being appropriate and efficient. This legislation will clarify that dietetic and nutrition professionals may order therapeutic diets, providing patients with better health care and ensuring that hospitals function more efficient- ly.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect 180 days after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.