Quality assurance. I. A levels of care model.

A model used to identify patients requiring increased nutritional support and to determine priorities and delineate the degree of care required and role responsibilities is described. The model includes three levels of care; Level I is the most basic care and Level III the most intense. Assignment to a level of care is based on the presence, absence, or anticipated development of nutritional problems and/or the degree of dietary teaching required. Within each level of care, practitioner responsibilities have been defined by frequency and by position.