Advancing practice: Using nutrition information and technology to improve health—the nutrition informatics global challenge

Abstract

Aims: The unique combination of technology, information and nutrition has been utilised in health care for decades. As technology and effective use of health data evolve, the field of ‘nutrition informatics’ is positioned to advance best practices of nutrition care delivered by registered dietitians and dietetic technicians registered. The present paper reviews the opportunities. Methods: A narrative review was constructed with reference to the literature. Results: Evolution of the use of digital health care in the USA is on an aggressive timeline because of regulations, which provide financial incentives to eligible professionals and hospitals who can prove ‘meaningful use’ of certified health‐care technology. While adoption and use of electronic health records has occurred at the international level for decades, only recently have American adoption rates increased. Health‐care providers are adjusting to rapid cultural changes, which support the interoperability of health data. The dietetics profession must move in tandem with this transition to digital care. This requires implementation and development of nutrition standards, vocabularies and quality measures, which support exchange of pertinent nutrition data critical to patient care and wellbeing. All dietetic professionals need to appreciate the paradigm shift in health care. Conclusions: Dietitians who are involved with informatics will help with this transition through their work with systems implementations, understanding competencies necessary for successful integration of digital nutrition and using electronic nutrition data for research.

eHealth readiness of dietitians

“…Continued efforts to increase the awareness of nutrition informatics and the benefits amongst dietitians are also crucial, particularly at the patient and organisational level because this was not realised by the majority of respondents. Research to contribute to the evidence of nutrition informatics benefits for patient nutrition care, as well as the development of best practice criteria for nutrition ICT selection and use, will be an important focus for the coming years (24,39) . Research to contribute to the evidence of nutrition informatics benefits for patient nutrition care, as well as the development of best practice criteria for nutrition ICT selection and use, will be an important focus for the coming years (24,39) .…”

Uptake of nutrition informatics in Australia compared with the USA

“…The profession of dietetics in Australia is developing initiatives in this area, which will need to maintain momentum and a high priority in order to continue to raise the profile and support continuing professional development. Research to contribute to the evidence of nutrition informatics benefits for patient nutrition care and the development of best practice criteria for nutrition IS selection and use will be an important focus for the coming years …”

Current Barriers to Large‐scale Interoperability of Traceability Technology in the Seafood Sector

“…However, even when frameworks and ontologies have been proposed as mechanisms for enabling interoperability (Anonymous ; Bhatt and others ; Pizzuti and others ; Ringsberg ), implementation and wide‐scale adoption have been lacking. In fact, interoperability is not just a challenge in the food sector, but rather is an on‐going issue in other industries, such as electronic healthcare records, health informatics, nutrition sciences and dietetics, manufacturing and engineering (Squirrell ; O'Sullivan and others ; Ayres and Hoggle ).…”