A protocol for sustained reduction of Total Parenteral Nutrition and cost savings by improvement of nutritional care in hospitals.

Background And Aims: Malnutrition and the use of Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) contribute considerably to hospital costs. Recently, we reported on the introduction of malnutrition screening and monitoring of TPN use in our hospital, which resulted in a large (40%) reduction in TPN and improved quality of nutritional care in two years (2011/12). Here, we aimed to assure continuation of improved care by developing a detailed malnutrition screening and TPN use protocol involving instruction tools for hospital staff, while monitoring the results in the following two years (2013/14).