Journal Watch - Home Dialysis

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  • Use of CMS-reimbursed CKD Education Doubles the Likelihood of Home Dialysis

    While Medicare has paid for stage 4 CKD kidney disease education (KDE) since 2010, only a tiny fraction have used it—but KDE matters, finds an analysis of 369,968 patients who started dialysis between 2010 and 2014. Just 3,469 (0.9%) had received at least one KDE session, but compared to controls matched for age, gender, ESRD Network and year of dialysis start, they were twice as likely to have started a home dialysis treatment. Concerningly, African American and Hispanic patients were significantly less likely to have received KDE services.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-12-10)

    Tags: Home Dialysis, Kidney Disease Education, Peritoneal Dialysis

  • Home Dialysis “Virtual Ward” Addresses Gaps in Care Transitions

    Following hospital discharge, a procedure, antibiotics, or completion of home training, 2 weeks of telephonic follow-up was provided to 193 PD or home HD patients as a “home dialysis virtual ward” (HDVW). The HDVW identified a median of 1 care gap per patient, with newer patients at higher risk of gaps. Patients were highly satisfied with the HDVW.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2019-11-16)

    Tags: Home Dialysis, Home Dialysis Virtual Ward, HDVW, Care Gap

  • The Role of Frailty in Home Dialysis

    Evaluation of frailty among 109 home dialysis patients revealed a greater than 2-fold increase in risk of a composite outcome that included technique failure and all-cause death. Weakness and weight loss were both linked with higher risk. “Assessing frailty as part of the clinical evaluation for home dialysis therapies may be useful for prognostication and clinical management,” report the authors.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2019-10-14)

    Tags: Frailty, Home Dialysis, All cause Death

  • Home Dialysis: Better Outcomes at Lower Costs

    Five years after starting dialysis, the population of Ontario, Canada over age 18 had mean 30-day PD costs 50% lower than in-center HD—and home HD costs 64% lower than in-center. After adjusting for covariates, home HD cost the least and had the highest survival (80%) vs. 52% on PD and 42% on in-center HD.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2019-10-14)

    Tags: Home Dialysis, PD Cost, HD Cost, HD Survival

  • Home Dialysis Barriers Examined (Again)

    Since the NKF-KDOQI is a latecomer to the home dialysis party (at least for home HD), they started at the beginning with a conference identifying barriers to starting and keeping patients at home. Not surprisingly, cursory education, and lack of exposure to home options or support for care partners were implicated.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2019-01-11)

    Tags: Home Dialysis, KDOQI, Barriers, Patient Support

  • Driving Home Dialysis Takes More Than Money

    Are financial incentives enough to change nephrologist practice to favor home therapies? Only a little, finds a comprehensive literature review and an international workshop. Other levers, such as the framework of funding for clinics, nephrologist belief in home treatments, and direct costs to patients (e.g., utilities) may play a role as well.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2018-08-13)

    Tags: Home Dialysis, Financial Incentives, Nephrologist Practice

  • Who Matters Most for Modality Choice: Clinicians or Patients?

    New Zealand has one of the highest rates of home dialysis use in the world—and they still believe there is room for improvement. An online study of all NZ dialysis clinics coupled with a measure of “decisional power” aimed to see who had the most influence on modality choice. While respondents believed that predialysis nurses were most influential, nephrologists still held the most decisional power—and a one point increase in nephrologist decisional power drove a 6.1% rise in home dialysis use.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2017-12-14)

    Tags: New Zealand, Home Dialysis, Modality Choice, Patients

  • Barriers to Intensive HD in Pediatrics

    Why don’t more people choose intensive hemodialysis? Responses to a survey by 134 of the 221 pediatric dialysis centers in the International Pediatric Dialysis Network found that more than 2/3 were aware of evidence supporting the benefits of intensive HD and half believed it produced the best outcomes (just 2% favored conventional HD). Key barriers included lack of funding and staff, with lack of expertise and motivation as minor factors. Read the abstract.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2017-11-13)

    Tags: Children, Financial Barriers, Home Dialysis, Intensified Hemodialysis, Nocturnal Hemodialysis