KidneyViews
Welcome to the non-profit Medical Education Institute's Home Dialysis Central blogspot! This page is an umbrella under which Home Dialysis Central staff and guests can share their perspectives about home therapies and what we need to do to raise their profile and enable more people to use them. We'd like your comments as well! Bookmark our site and like us on Facebook! Help us tell the world about home dialysis.
We have a "lifestyle bible" for sale that can help you learn about dialysis options. Help, I Need Dialysis! We also have prepared some slideshows on how to have a good future with kidney disease.
Medical Education Institute’s Preliminary Comments on the ESRD Treatment Choices Model (CMS-5527-P)
(8 comments)
At MEI, we believe there are five essential ways to rapidly increase the uptake and successful adoption of PD and home HD:
Published on 09/05/2019 by Beth Witten, MSW, ACSW, LSCSW
High Fistula Blood Flow Rates and Microbubble Formation
(13 comments)
Micro-bubbles are just what they sound like: small, almost microscopic air bubbles that can—and do—form at several key sites within the extracorporeal circulation of a dialysis system.
Published on 08/29/2019 by Dr. John Agar
How to Train Home HD Patients for Long-term Success
(10 comments)
From my own long-term observation of patients and training approaches that did and did not succeed, here are several elements that seem to make a difference.
Published on 08/22/2019 by Dori Schatell, MS, Executive Director, Medical Education Institute
Tags: Education issues: for patients and professionals, Making dialysis better,
We Need a Revolution in Dialysis Treatment
(12 comments)
We all know that in-center dialysis to this day is the absolute minimum needed to stay alive for just long enough not to embarrass
Published on 08/15/2019 by Henning Sondergaard
We Are ALL Patients: The Intersection of Science and Art in Nephrology
(3 comments)
This month, I read one of each, and what I learned was sobering—and applies to how nephrologists and dialysis clinics approach and treat people with kidney failure.
Published on 08/08/2019 by Dori Schatell, MS, Executive Director, Medical Education Institute
Tags: Education issues: for patients and professionals, Making dialysis better,
Coping with Death in Dialysis
(2 comments)
Because of their diagnosis, they are especially vulnerable to deaths of patients they’ve known. If staff ignore the death, patients may believe they didn’t care
Published on 08/01/2019 by Beth Witten, MSW, ACSW, LSCSW
First, Do No Harm: As We Expand Home Dialysis, Put Patient Values First!
(2 comments)
Fellow advocates, please consider this post a rallying cry to ensure that people with kidney disease benefit from and are not harmed by whatever dialysis changes occur due to the AAKHI.
Published on 07/25/2019 by Dori Schatell, MS, Executive Director, Medical Education Institute
Tags: Education issues: for patients and professionals, Making dialysis better,
What the Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative (AAKHI) Executive Order May Mean for You
(10 comments)
On July 10, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO)1 that may lead to changes for patients and dialysis clinics and nephrologists.
Published on 07/18/2019 by Beth Witten, MSW, ACSW, LSCSW
Interpreting eGFR (and Other) Blood Test Results in CKD
(9 comments)
Seeing this has prompted me to write this post to try to correct the clear misconception that a change of a single point in an eGFR spells disaster…or, indeed, spells anything at all.
Published on 07/11/2019 by Dr. John Agar
Tags: Education issues: for patients and professionals, Other ‘cool stuff’ to help understand dialysis better,
Using Creativity to Banish Brain Fog
(0 comments)
Brain fog, lethargy, low motivation—many of us have to deal with these following dialysis. But a blast of creativity can bring aid.
Published on 07/04/2019 by Ant de Villiers
Tags: Making dialysis better, Other ‘cool stuff’ to help understand dialysis better,