American Nutrition Association Highlights Gaps in Access to Metabolic Health Care Following New Blood Test Development
A new policy paper calls for licensure and reimbursement reforms to ensure patients can access qualified professionals to help interpret new metabolic health biomarker data.
The American Nutrition Association (ANA) has identified significant barriers to patient care following the development of a new finger-prick blood test that tracks metabolic health via the glucose ketone index (GKI). While the technology provides real-time metabolic data, the availability of qualified professionals to interpret these results varies greatly by U.S. state and insurance coverage.
In a recent policy outlook published by Frontiers Policy Labs, ANA CEO Corinne Bush and Senior Director of Nutrition Programs & Advocacy Amy Smith argue that personalized nutrition and metabolic science are advancing faster than the healthcare system's ability to deliver them. The authors note that many U.S. medical schools still lack required clinical nutrition courses, and a significant majority of healthcare providers feel unprepared to discuss nutrition with patients.
"When patients can measure their own metabolic state in real time but can't access a qualified professional to help them interpret it, the system has failed at a basic level," Bush and Smith stated in their outlook. They propose three key reforms: clinical societies must publish clear guidance on using biomarkers like GKI, states need to license nutrition professionals based on demonstrated competency, and insurers must reimburse biomarker-informed nutrition care.
The ANA emphasizes that these changes are necessary to close the gap between accessible diagnostic tools and qualified interpretive expertise. The organization advocates for a properly credentialed workforce capable of leveraging advanced metabolic data to better manage chronic conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes, which represent a growing global health burden.