03 Jul 2018 --- Implementing a nutrition care program for malnourished surgical patients can achieve a reduction in readmission rates of nearly 50 percent, according to new data from Advocate Health Care and Abbott, pointing to the need for guidelines on improving nutrition before and after surgery for better patient outcomes. For surgical patients, the focus has for decades been on making sure patients do not consume any food or drinks in the hours leading up to the surgery. Yet, one in three patients are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition when they're admitted to the hospital, and many are unaware of it.
