Home Parenteral Nutrition Reimbursement and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Public Policy Efforts

Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) has been considered a lifesaving intervention since the late 1960s for patients with gastrointestinal (GI) failure and other conditions that affect the GI tract who are well enough to be at home. Payment for this therapy under federal programs requires significant documentation and complex processes to qualify. Medicare parenteral nutrition policy, qualification processes and challenges, and advocacy supported by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition are reviewed with the goal of increasing clinician awareness of the complexity surrounding Medicare HPN reimbursement.