(P28-011-25) Evaluating Dietitians’ Perspectives on Expanding the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to Include Nutrition-Related Caregiver Training Services

Objectives: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed a revision to the 2025 Physician Fee Schedule enabling caregiver training services for special diets. The objectives of this study were to (a) assess Registered Dietitian Nutritionists’ (RDN) likelihood of providing formal nutrition-related caregiver training services (CTS) if enabled through policy change, (b) evaluate their concerns related to provision of CTS, and (c) identify specific features or components of nutrition-related CTS.

Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey with RDNs across the U.S. We asked a series of closed and open-ended questions about their experiences supporting family caregivers of patients or clients, their likelihood of providing formal CTS, their concerns about CTS, and types of support they expect to provide through CTS. Closed-ended questions were summarized descriptively (frequencies and proportions) and open-ended questions were analyzed using the rigorous and accelerated data reduction (RADaR) approach.

Results: Of 88 RDNs with complete responses, 76.9% indicated they would be likely or very likely to provide CTS. Concerns included clinical considerations (e.g., staffing and time), ethical and quality of care concerns (e.g., ensuring consistent quality of care), and sociocultural barriers (e.g., food insecurity that may not be addressed through CTS). RDNs suggested providing training on grocery shopping and meal planning and preparation, condition-specific education on dietary modifications, and hands-on demonstrations

Conclusions: CTS may be a promising opportunity for enhancing nutrition services by engaging caregivers of patients receiving medical nutrition therapy. Such training programs must be developed carefully to ensure alignment with RDN recommendations and caregiver needs and preferences.

Funding Sources: The authors are grateful to the McCormick Science Institute Seed Grant for supporting this work.